Williams issue "mistakes" warning over new recruit

Ian Parkes
Friday 2 December 2022 15:18

Williams team principal Jost Capito has urged people to lower their expectations of Logan Sargeant ahead of his debut F1 campaign in 2023.

After finishing fourth in the F2 championship this past season, which included two feature race victories, Williams has opted to promote Sargeant from its academy as the replacement for the axed Nicholas Latifi.

At a time when the American market in F1 is booming, for the first time in eight years, Sargeant will become the first driver from the US to compete in the series.

Capito, however, has warned against expecting too much of the 21-year-old in his debut campaign as he will make mistakes, highlighting George Russell as a prime example before the Briton started to deliver ahead of his switch to Mercedes.

"It's not possible for a rookie to come into Formula 1 and be competitive," said Capito, speaking to GPFans. "That's impossible. It's so complex.

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“We saw that with George [Russell] in his first two years. The third year he was really good, but in the first two years, he did mistakes, and Logan will do mistakes.

“That's important to communicate, to make people aware, that he will do mistakes and he will not be in the same category as [team-mate] Alex [Albon].

“It doesn't mean that he can't get there. I'm sure he can get there, but we have to give him the time to grow into that and to get the experience.”

Sargeant adds value to F1's US growth

Capito has also dismissed the suggestion Williams has hired Sargeant to take full advantage of F1's growth in the US at the present time.

For the first time in the sport's history, F1 will stage three races in the US next year, with Las Vegas joining events in Miami and Austin.

"It wasn't part of the decision as to why we chose him for the academy last year," insisted Capito.

“Really, the boom in the US was only this year. He was chosen before this.

“Now, of course, it [Sargeant's arrival] adds to the value, and we have seen what has happened in the US with the additional race in Las Vegas.

“It's good for the market and it's good for Williams, and in general, for Formula 1 to have a US driver.

“But it's not just a US driver. We have had that in the past and it didn't help the US.

“It needs a driver who is performing, and that's where we have to lower the expectations."