American driver Logan Sargeant is set to compete for Williams Racing alongside Alex Albon on the 2023 F1 grid, rounding out the British team’s driver lineup for next season, team boss Jost Capito confirmed in Austin on Saturday.
But, this announcement comes with a catch—the young driver, who competes in Formula Two, is short on Super License points. He is third in the standings with one round left on the F2 calendar, and he will need to finish in the top five at the season finale to secure enough points. Sargeant is just nine points ahead of sixth place.
“We feel he’s ready to race and under the condition he has enough Super Licence points after Abu Dhabi he will be our second driver next year,” said Capito, per The Race.
The 21-year-old is set to become the first American driver to compete in the series since Alexander Rossi in 2015, if he gathers enough points. Sargeant currently competes in Formula Two for Carlin and is part of the Williams Driver Academy.
The announcement comes after he competed in the first practice session at Circuit of the Americas on Friday, where he completed 23 seemingly trouble-free laps. While he did finish 19th, the 21-year-old was 1.9 seconds off of Albon.
“I think the main goal coming into today was just to learn as much as possible,” Sargeant said Friday after practice. “And I did feel like I did pick up on a lot. Very different from what I honestly expected, but in a good way. A lot of potential to still pick up on and improve on but I think it was a good start, and I’m happy with how it went.”
He did add that his “main focus” right now is a standout finish in F2 to secure his Super License.
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