Williams young driver Logan Sargeant will make his FP1 debut at the United States Grand Prix in October, the team has confirmed.
The Floridian is currently third in the Formula 2 championship after impressing with two feature race wins so far this season, and is the leading rookie in the series.
Having been announced as a Williams young driver in Austin a year ago, Sargeant will make his first appearance at a Formula 1 race weekend at Circuit of the Americas as the team’s second mandatory rookie FP1 outing, taking over Nicholas Latifi’s car.
“Obviously FP1 at Austin is top of the list,” Sargeant told RACER. “First FP1 in the USA is obviously something that is going to be extremely special to me, but I’m just looking forward to making the most of it.
“I’ve known for a little while now, but I’ve been focused on doing my job in Formula 2 to the best of my ability.
“I’ve not really been itching to talk about it. It’s one of those things that was just a super-exciting opportunity and that I’ve been massively looking forward to, but you can’t get too ahead of yourself because you still have to do a good job in the series you’re competing in and that’s been my sole focus throughout the year and will be for the rest of the year.”
While Sargeant has already been in the Williams simulator he says preparations will really start to ramp up once he gets through a run of three consecutive F2 race weekends in Spa, Zandvoort, and Monza after the summer break.
“I’m going to use these next three weeks to sort of recharge the batteries from how hectic the first part of the season has been, but once I get back I’ll get into that triple header, do the best I can there, and then I’ll be working hard in the sim throughout that entire build-up to Austin as well as a lot of gym work – neck training, that’s for sure – and I think I’ll be at some F1 races trackside where I won’t be racing at just to absorb some extra information and hopefully some stuff that can I help me as I go into my first FP1.”
Williams sporting director Sven Smeets says the way Sargeant has performed in F2 earned him the chance to show what he can do in F1 machinery during a grand prix weekend, after the 21-year-old also tested for the team in Abu Dhabi last year.
“Logan has demonstrated a great level of ability and maturity so far this season through his accomplishments both on and off the track,” Smeets said. “He’s delivered race winning performances in Formula 2 matched by his hard work during simulator sessions. It felt only right to reward these achievements with the opportunity for him to take part in a free practice session at Austin.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him get behind the wheel of the FW44 and seeing how his performance and feedback help the team’s preparations for the race in Austin.”
