Logan Hunter Sargeant grew up in south Florida, chasing his older brother on anything with wheels. He started his motorsports journey at just 5 years old as a kart racer and quickly became a champion.
That insatiable pursuit has transformed the young driver into an international racing phenom. Sargeant, now 22, will become the first Formula 1 driver from the United States to compete in the apex of auto racing in nearly a decade when he gets behind the wheel at Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The confident rookie credits his older brother, Dalton, as a key inspiration ahead of the biggest event of his brief career.
Sargeant and his brother raced together, and Dalton’s presence was a massive plus for him as a young kid. As the younger brother, Sargeant was always trying to beat Dalton, and that instilled a bit of competitiveness in him. Sargeant became the first US-born driver to win a Formula 2 race last July at the British Grand Prix and later finished fourth in the overall standings.
He will be driving Williams’ Mercedes FW45, an eight-speed, 79-inch-wide blue beast with a supercharged transmission unveiled last month. His teammate is Alexander Albon, a 26-year-old London native competing under Thailand’s flag.
Although Williams finished last among F1 teams in 2022, Sargeant believes that his high-speed hijinks as a child and beyond could reap huge dividends. Sargeant has covered more than 1,400 miles in preseason testing with Albon. He is convinced that his preparation has been top-notch, physically and mentally, and he has left no stone unturned.
Sargeant’s tight family won’t be with him in Bahrain, but he expects to see his mother at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on April 2. A month later, his parents, older brother, and grandparents will join him at the Miami Grand Prix, dubbed by some as the “Super Bowl” of Formula 1. The Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 19 will be the third and final US race in the 2023 F1 season.
Interest in Formula One among American fans has surged in recent years due to the popularity of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive,” a docuseries chronicling its drivers, managers, and team owners. Since the show’s debut in 2019, the audience for ESPN’s F1 coverage has doubled to 1.5 million.
For now, Sargeant is soaking up his moment as one of three rookie F1 drivers this year, along with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri from Australia and AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries of the Netherlands. Sargeant is too focused on racing to date right now, and he thinks he’s as prepared as possible for 57 laps of the 3.3-mile track awaiting him in Bahrain.
With just hours to go before practice sessions starting Friday, Sargeant said he was primed to take advantage of the “pretty awesome opportunity” awaiting him.
»Logan Sargeant racing history«
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