Following the departure of Logan Sargeant, Williams Racing must have been relieved when their brand new driver, who had only been in a Formula One car a handful of times, did not crash it into the wall. They must have been even more pleased when he scored points in his second race, a feat that the previous number two driver did not accomplish. Nonetheless, was this the best decision for their team?
Sargeant was known for his multitude of crashes and bad standings. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Formula One finished its summer break and during the third practice Logan crashed his car. It ended up being unusable for the upcoming qualifying race. The team was disappointed. The car had just been given brand new upgrades that they would have to replace. This ended up not being a big deal though as Alex Albon, the other Williams driver, did not crash, but the new upgrades were not within regulations and he got disqualified. This was the first time Logan and Alex had had the same car all season and neither one was able to qualify. Although repairing the car would take time and money, they would already have to change the car again to bring it back into regulations.
Sargeant was already destined to be banished from Formula One in the following year. Just before summer break began, the team announced they had signed a contract with current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to take the place of Sargeant for 2025 and beyond. In most cases the incumbent driver would be allowed to carry out the rest of the season out of respect. If a driver is not able to continue for whatever reason, teams will normally give the spot to a reserve driver or former Formula One driver. Williams did not take either of these approaches. Instead, they pulled their academy driver out of his rookie season of Formula Two to complete the final eight races. Because Colapinto has now started a career in Formula One, he will not be allowed to finish his Formula Two season or ever go back. Most drivers have already been signed for the 2025 season leaving very few spots left. So not only will Colapinto not be allowed back into Formula Two, but he also has a very small chance of having a job next year in Formula One.
Colapinto has done remarkably well for his rookie races. Many people use this to compare him to Logan Sargeant. Many people also do not remember the Frankenstein car that Sargeant was forced to use. The car was first damaged when Alex Albon crashed it in Melbourne and they decided to give Sargeant’s car to Albon to finish the race which they never gave back. Then, as upgrades came along, they were all added onto Albon’s newly acquired car while Sargeant’s was left with a back wing that was from 2023. I still believe that Colapinto is driving better than Sargeant ever had this season, but it also must be remembered that Sargeant was never given a fighting chance.
Although switching out Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto was a good decision in the short run, Williams have left two good drivers without a job diminishing the trust that many drivers and fans had in them. This will make it harder to gain traction from their fanbase and gain new contracts and sponsorships. I hope it does work out for them, but these management failures do not bode well for their future.
