Logan Sargeant, the American driver joining Williams next season, picks the permanent number he will use during his Formula 1 career.
Sargeant, who achieved fourth place in the Formula 2 standings and collected the super license points he was missing, will drive for Williams in 2023. The American driver is replacing Nicholas Latifi, as Jost Capito confirmed during the race weekend in COTA early this year. Expectations are high since he had a consistent and solid season in the feeder series. After Abu Dhabi, Williams confirmed the presence of Sargeant on the 2023’s grid and the young driver now has picked the number he will use on his car next season.
“My number is number three, but that’s taken so I thought about taking a winning number from my past and I chose the two. In fact I used the number two in Formula Renault and I had a good season with it”.
With these words, the Sargeant announces his decision to race with the #2 in Formula 1, becoming the first driver since 2018 to use it. The last person who used that number was Stoffel Vandoorne, who drove in Formula 1 during 2017 and 2018.
🔥 #LS2@LoganSargeant has picked his first @F1 race number for 2023! 🤩#WeAreWilliams pic.twitter.com/s5v9CtDFK6
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) November 30, 2022
Logan Sargeant doesn’t only bring back the number two in the pinnacle of motorsport, but he also makes the return of the US flag in Formula 1 possible for the first time since 2015, when Alexander Rossi was on the grid. The 21-year-old, however, doesn’t feel extreme pressure on himself:
“I think I worked as hard as anyone else to reach this point and I just need to be ready to give my best next season. I don’t feel any extra pressure for being the only American driver and with three races that will take place in my country”.
The number two has high expectations of himself, but he isn’t the only one as the words of Jost Capito, the Williams’ team principal, underlines:
“We believe he is fully ready for Formula 1. Since joining our academy at the end of 2021, Logan has been able to integrate with the team in the simulator and on track. We are ready to support him in this journey”.
With Sargeant, there will be three rookies next season: the American, Oscar Piastri – winner of the 2021 Formula 2 Championship – and Nyck De Vries, crowned Formula E World Champion in 2021. Sargeant and Piastri already met each other in Formula 3, two years ago. The Australian driver, who is going to drive for McLaren next year, won the title with Sargeant coming in third by only four points. The fights on track never affected the relationship between the two of them, as the new Williams driver explains:
“There was never any type of friction. We have always been friends, since the time of karting. I’m very happy for his debut and I hope we can both be successful in Formula 1”.
Even if the new cars haven’t been tested yet, Sargeant already has an idea of how will be driving a Formula 1’s car thanks to the FP1 sessions he did for Williams and the post-season test in Abu Dhabi:
“In FP1’s is touch and go, because you don’t have much time. But during the test, I could find the limit and understand the car. It’s a work in process and it will be for a while, but it was good to understand how I can modify the balance and study the changes in the car just thanks to the steering wheel”.
