Former Mercedes director feels Logan Sargeant 'has to be the surprise of the season' at Williams

Former Mercedes head of strategy and current Williams F1 team principal James Vowles believes that Logan Sargeant will be the 'surprise of the season' after an underwhelming rookie season in the sport last year.

The American driver produced some eye-catching qualifying performances such as his P7 at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. But he failed to rack up points as he only scored a solitary point in Austin after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified.

Speaking with the official F1 channel, the former Mercedes director laid down his expectations for his Williams F1 charge, saying (via RaceFans):

“He knows that what he was doing last year, that’s not fit for purpose anymore. We have to step it up. He has to be the surprise of the season and use the knowledge base that he spent 12 months gathering to good effect.

"You can see that in his body language and confidence already and he’s now got an opportunity to take it to the track and translate it there.”

Williams F1 team boss speaks about fielding Mercedes junior for 2025

James Vowles has, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli would be in F1 in the future. But he also cautioned that it wasn't a given that he would race in Williams as early as 2025.

Speaking with Autosport, Vowles said:

“From my perspective, I have no doubt that Kimi will be in F1. He’s done incredibly well in his junior series. But that doesn't mean he'll be in Williams, necessarily. I believe in investing in youth. But I'll take people on merit into the organization. In the case of Toto, he's in the position that you would hope. He's one of, if not the best, team on the grid, with a range of options available to him.

"So from my perspective, it's more about looking at what happens going forward. I have Alex [Albon] here next year under contract and I have Logan [Sargeant] obviously under contract as well, along with juniors, so it's just a question of seeing how everything plays out across the next six months."

Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli will feature in his debut F2 season with Prema Racing alongside Ferrari Driver Academy driver Ollie Bearman. There are huge expectations on the Italian as he is touted to be the potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in the future and take them to success.