“He is here on merit”: Williams defend Logan Sargeant from ‘pay driver’ accusations

Williams team boss James Vowles has defended Logan Sargeant, claiming he is in the sport purely on 'merit'. The driver came under fire recently after he made a silly mistake in Jeddah's qualifying and collided with Nyck de Vries at the 2023 Australian GP.

Sargeant is the first American on the grid since Alexander Rossi's four-race stint back in 2015. Many have doubted the American's abilities, calling him a 'pay driver'. The British team invested heavily in Sargeant's F2 career, which saw him finish second in last year's campaign.

Vowles has defended his driver, claiming that he is in the sport purely on merit. The Briton cites the American's driving data as his main source of confidence. The Williams boss said, as quoted by Motorsport.com:

“I now have the ability to look at his data and he is here on merit. As a result of Williams investing correctly in him, he's now a professional, deserving driver on the grid.”

Logan Sargeant made a strong impression in his GP debut in Bahrain, finishing just two spots behind his highly-rated teammate, Alex Albon, in 13th place. He followed this up with a 16th-place finish in Saudi Arabia.

Despite his promising start, Sargeant's performance at the Australian GP was marred by a collision with Nyck de Vries at Turn 1 during the third standing start of a race that was heavily disrupted. Many viewers believed that Sargeant was fortunate to avoid a penalty from the FIA for the incident.

Williams team principal on Alex Albon's crash at 2023 Australian GP

As per Williams team principal James Vowles, the incident involving Alex Albon during the early stages of the F1 Australian GP was not solely his fault.

Albon had been performing well and was in a promising position of P6, displaying impressive speed in the second sector of the track. However, on the sixth lap, he lost control of the rear of his car, causing him to collide with the barriers and end his race.

During the debrief on their social media platforms, Vowles explained how and why the incident occurred:

"What happened with Alex is very difficult to explain when you first look at the data. He went through Turn 5 and then into Turn 6 slower than his previous lap and yet the rear came around immediately and he lost control of the car."

"There's nothing he could have done to correct that. Turn 5 is full throttle in qualifying but in the race it is difficult. We, therefore, assumed he would have to lift. However, the car worked better than expected and he could just about get through that corner at full throttle."

With Williams touted to perform better on tracks with long straights, it will be interesting to watch the team as the sport heads to Baku for the 2023 Azerbaijan GP.