Why F1 is losing MASSIVE opportunity for expansion

Photo: © IMAGO

Logan Sargeant

Why F1 is losing MASSIVE opportunity for expansion

This is a pretty big oversight in Formula 1 right now

Daniel Austin

Sunday 16 June 2024 20:00

As summer approaches, everything is starting to fall into place regarding the F1 driver landscape for 2025.

After Visa Cash App RB confirmed Yuki Tsunoda will be remaining with them next year, there are now just eight vacant seats left on the grid.

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But, even if official announcements have not yet been forthcoming, the reality is that plenty of those seats have already been all but secured.

At last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed that the Silver Arrows are planning to replace seven-time Lewis Hamilton world champion with teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman are strong favourites to join Haas, and Carlos Sainz is widely believed to be on the verge of signing for Williams.

Sauber still have one seat available after confirming the signing of Nico Hulkenberg for 2025, while Ricciardo is widely expected to continue alongside Tsunoda next year, and Alpine are likely to retain Pierre Gasly and promote rookie Jack Doohan alongside him.

Despite the game of musical chairs which has been going on ever since Hamilton’s shock switch to Ferrari was announced earlier this year, one driver whose future is unclear has been the source of very little speculation indeed – Williams’ Logan Sargeant.

Logan Sargeant has been comprehensively outperformed by Alex Albon since joining Williams

In truth, Sargeant has not demonstrated enough performance to justify either the retention of his drive with Williams or a transfer to a rival team, but his almost certain exit from F1 makes clear a disappointing quirk and a big opportunity the championship is missing out on.

Since American mass media company Liberty Media purchased F1 in 2017, it has made expansion in the United States its number one priority, from creating a behind-the-scenes documentary series with Netflix to securing a race around the streets of Miami and purchasing a plot of land on the world-famous Las Vegas strip for grand prix garage space.

The results are impressive so far. Last month’s Miami Grand Prix, which Lando Norris won to secure his debut F1 victory, was watched by a record-breaking average audience of 3.1million viewers in the USA according to ESPN.

Giving that audience a home driver or team to support, then, would surely be a no brainer, but neither has quite worked out so far.

Sargeant become only the third driver from the USA to race in F1 in the 21st century when he was promoted by Williams, following in the footsteps of predecessors Alexander Rossi and Scott Speed, and his inevitable departure combined with a lack of American talent coming through the junior ranks means stateside fans are unlikely to have a home favourite to root for anytime soon.

The Haas team promoted itself as ‘America’s Formula 1 team’ when it joined the grid in 2016 but has toiled towards the back of the field since then and has largely failed to capitalise on its American roots, even running in a Russian flag-themed livery for sponsorship reasons during the 2021 season.

Formula 1, though, has eschewed two opportunities to welcome a potentially lucrative American presence to the grid.

The first was Colton Herta was unable to join the RB team because he hadn’t earned the requisite FIA Super Licence points, despite taking a plethora of victories and pole positions in a series which runs at comparable speeds to F1 and in which Herta has had to battle against seasoned veterans.

Both snubs seem like the tossing away of opportunities to further grab the attention of a wider audience stateside, and should be put under review in the near future.

To their credit, Andretti are pushing forward with their determination to join F1 by poaching key technical staff and opening a new UK headquarters, while 24-year-old Herta is seventh in the IndyCar driver standings’ and could well challenge for the title if he is able to stitch together a consistent run of form.

With have both Sargeant and Haas having been unable to capture the imaginations of the American public in the way Liberty Media and F1 would likely have hoped, opening the door to Andretti and changing the bizarre Super Licence rules to give more credit to Herta’s IndyCar performances could be the best way to ensure F1 doesn’t miss out on a huge opportunity with its growing US fanbase.

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