Why F1 2023's one-point wonder deserves a second chance

Logan Sargeant had made a bit of a pig's ear out of qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Perhaps it was the hubris talking after his excellent run to sixth on the grid in Formula 1's first trip to Las Vegas in 40 years, or perhaps just clumsiness, but the two Turn 1 track limits violations left him without a time on the board. Thus, he'd start last, a painful outcome as his second deleted time had been good enough to secure a Q2 berth.

Sargeant's Williams seat is the only drive that remains unconfirmed in 2024. For a time, it looked as though he'd be a one-and-done driver in F1, before an upturn in form following a series of post-summer crashes looking like he'd earned his reprisal. Williams had been committed to assessing whether to keep Sargeant once the season was over, creating a palpable degree of pressure to perform.

PLUS: The lost F1 drivers who only got one shot at glory

"I just want to check through a full season of data one more time and look at the progress, look at mistakes, look the outliers, look for growth and just make sure we're on the right track," Williams boss James Vowles explained, adding that a decision will be "within weeks of where we are now".

One error will not decide the American's fate, but neither will one moment of success. If it's going to be a deal with a long-term view of the future, Williams will suitably take a holistic view of his attributes.

On paper, it's not been the most impressive rookie season, but it's certainly not been the worst. The 2023 campaign offers a microcosm of how rookie seasons can go, with Oscar Piastri filling the position of 'prodigious newcomer who performs heroics' in his first year at McLaren, a la Charles Leclerc or Kimi Raikkonen in their first years of F1. Nyck de Vries' half-season at AlphaTauri fit the 'not the right fit, sacked early' - a rare category in this post-pay-driver age, although Jaguar duo Antonio Pizzonia or Luciano Burti (who later reappeared at Williams and Prost respectively) are both examples here - while Sargeant's trajectory has been vacillating wildly somewhere in between.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Losing both his Q1 times to track limits infringements in Abu Dhabi was a frustrating way to end a 2023 season that has been blighted by incidents

It's somewhat reminiscent of Yuki Tsunoda's first year. The Japanese driver's first race in Bahrain back in 2021 was superb, leading Ross Brawn to hail him as "F1's best rookie for years" after scoring ninth place, but errors at less forgiving circuits ended up sapping at Tsunoda's confidence. Crashing at Imola's Variante Alta in a damp qualifying session began the tailspin, and further errors in qualifying - crashing at Baku and Paul Ricard - prompted Franz Tost to take action with his wayward young charge.

Tsunoda was told to relocate to Italy and put on a carefully managed schedule by Tost to instil discipline. It's not quite as militaristic as the opening act of Full Metal Jacket, and Tsunoda's sweet messages over the radio in Abu Dhabi to thank Tost belies the mental image of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman berating Leonard "Private Pyle" Lawrence for sneaking food from the mess hall, but it was strict nonetheless.

Thanks to the Austrian's efforts, Tsunoda has been genuinely impressive this year. His drive in Abu Dhabi was an excellent study of his progress, blending excellent tyre management and a growing ability to read a race to his natural speed.

PLUS: Why a departing stalwart was perfectly suited to F1's most pragmatic team

Sargeant was also pretty impressive in his first F1 race. Had his Q1 lap been 0.001s quicker, he'd have made Q2 at the expense of Lando Norris, and he finished 12th first time out - about 10s down on team-mate Alex Albon. And, like Tsunoda, a qualifying error in the second round brought him back down to earth.

"Our car is easier to overdrive than underdrive. Very easy to go in too deep into a corner and lose your lap because of the front locking problem" Alex Albon

Having to overcome a deleted lap at Jeddah, Sargeant was guilty of trying too hard and ended up spinning at Turn 22 - just missing the wall in the process. It knocked his confidence and, while Albon was chalking up results with impressive defensive drives, Sargeant wasn't quite able to extract the same performances out of it.

As a result, he'd only scored one point by season's end, and that came as the result of two disqualifications in Austin. But there are plenty of contextual elements behind the scoreboard that should work in his favour.

Albon explained why it was perhaps easier for him to get a tune out of the FW45 compared to Sargeant. Citing a front locking problem that results in understeer, Williams has had to focus on getting the front end to bite into the low-speed corners - but this comes at the penalty of taking performance out of the high- and medium-speed corners. The Anglo-Thai contended that this leaves the team "boxed in" with how it sets up the car.

Photo by: Williams

Albon has been able to use his experience to get the best out of a tricky Williams package in 2023

"I think our car is easier to overdrive than underdrive," he explained when asked if this was why Sargeant had struggled. "Very easy to go in too deep into a corner and lose your lap because of the front locking problem. You have to have the experience to understand it.

"I look at myself from last year to this year, I've improved, and that's already having previous two years in F1. That's just me understanding the Williams. So it is a difficult challenge, I think it is about learning the weaknesses and strengths and then helping you use it to race against other people, using your weaknesses or strengths for example."

As Bahrain is a circuit with predominantly slow corners, this ensured Sargeant could benefit from focusing on dialling out the front-end issues with little effect on the rest of the circuit. Comparing their GPS overlays from that qualifying session, Sargeant carried more speed through the tighter corners having braked later, although this meant that he was picking up the throttle much later compared to his team-mate.

How has the picture changed in a year? In overlapping their best Q1 laps from Yas Marina (Sargeant's deleted 1m24.532 versus Albon's 1m24.298s), it's evident that this trend seems to continue; Sargeant brakes later, but seems to have much more confidence out of Turn 1 (albeit to his detriment) and Turn 5 on the throttle which gives him a small delta over Albon. But it's the last sector where Albon finds much more time, his earlier braking allowing him to settle the car sooner and pick up the throttle earlier. Sacrificing a little early-mid corner speed seems to ensure the faster laptime.

On raw pace, Sargeant is almost there. Qualifying is something that he's struggled with, likely down to the small mistakes rather than the outright pace relative to his more experienced team-mate, but when he puts it together he's in the same ballpark.

The path for Williams is in determining whether the Floridian can be slightly more adaptive with his driving, and in learning when to sacrifice the short-corner speed for a more long-term advantage. That said, Williams could have a very different FW46 that rewards that kind of driving; if the front end doesn't need to be prioritised to much to minimise sliding, then Sargeant can benefit from that higher-speed turn-in and apply the throttle sooner once he feels the car bite.

For a case in point, Fernando Alonso's Q2 overlay versus Lance Stroll's shows that the Spaniard is able to brake later and pick up the throttle sooner compared to his team-mate. For an Aston Martin that's a lot more settled in the low-speed corners, this is a strategy that works - for the Williams, this kind of driving doesn't quite work. It also doesn't work for the Red Bull either; Max Verstappen brakes earlier than Sergio Perez - but the RB19, for all of its brilliance, is another car that struggles more in lower-speed conditions.

Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images

Qualifying seventh in Las Vegas was a sign of encouragement for Sargeant, who doesn't lack in raw pace relative to Albon but has made more errors

It's car-dependent, and Williams does have to dial out its lower-speed issues for next year's car as a priority to ensure that it is less compromised when dealing with the higher-speed corners. If that's successful, then Sargeant should be in a far better position to cope.

Sargeant has probably done enough to earn another year. Certainly, there have been incidents and cycles of underperformance throughout 2023 that have caused unwanted consequences, but that's true of most rookie drivers who have made it to F1 and stayed there. To find the limit, you have to go over it; to know how to succeed, you must learn how to fail.

If Vowles can work with Sargeant to cure those rookie season weaknesses, then Williams may have a driver on its hands that it can pin its long-term hopes onto. If the experiment doesn't work in 2024, then it has an open driver market in 2025 to play with - or to even start assessing F2-bound Zak O'Sullivan if it prefers to prioritise youth.

For now, it's too early to close the book on its time with Sargeant, at least without seeing if he can deliver a much improved sophomore campaign.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Has Sargeant done enough to secure his place on the grid for 2024?