American rookie Logan Sargeant hails “special” trio of home races

Logan Sargeant - the first US driver to get a permanent spot on the F1 grid since Scott Speed in 2007 - says “the timing is great” for his rookie season, which will feature three home races this year.

Signed by Williams to drive alongside Alex Albon in 2023, the 22-year-old will make his F1 debut in Bahrain next month with only a day and a half of testing (at most) behind the wheel of the freshly unveiled FW45.

The US Grand Prix at COTA will be bookended by the second Miami Grand Prix in May (Sargeant was born less than an hour’s drive away in Fort Lauderdale) and the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in November. Not bad going when you think most drivers are fortunate if they get to carry the ‘home favourite’ tag once a season, if at all.

“To come into the sport and have three grands prix in my first season is pretty special, and something I’m going to really enjoy,” said Sargeant. “The amount of people that are asking me questions who are curious about the sport is massive. And that’s such a positive.

“And with the trajectory it’s on, I don’t see it really stopping to be honest. I think that’s a huge plus and something I’m excited to see where it heads.”

Does three home races mean three times the pressure? It’s been a while since an American driver has featured on the grid at all, the last being Alexander Rossi, who impressed with five cameo drives with the now-defunct Marussia team towards the end of 2015.

“It’s honestly just such a privilege,” Sergeant explains. “I think having three home grands prix is not something many, if anyone, has been able to say. So I’m just looking to really enjoy those moments and feel that home energy.”

The appetite for Formula 1 has exploded globally, but especially in the US, where the Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive has proven to be a massive hit.

And if things carry one as they are, it isn’t hard to imagine a country the size of the USA getting a fourth grand prix. So TG put it to Sargeant: should the next US race be somewhere like Laguna Seca, or go really big and aim for a street circuit in New York?

“Why not two more? No, I’m kidding!” he laughs. “Watkins Glen has always been one of my favourites, so I’d prefer that over Laguna Seca. But you can’t count out a city race in New York either. In between Watkins Glen or a street track in New York.”