Williams junior driver Logan Sargeant will make his debut in an official Formula 1 practice session at his home round of the championship, the United States Grand Prix.
Sargeant will take over Nicholas Latifi’s car for the first practice session in the October event at the Circuit of the Americas.
The American has been with Williams since last October and experienced F1 machinery for the first time when he drove the team’s 2021 car in the official post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
He stepped up from Formula 3 to Formula 2 this year, and has two poles and two feature races wins to his name. The 21-year-old is currently third in the championship standings, with eight races remaining.
“I’m super-excited to be given this opportunity to drive my first free practice in Austin,” said Sargeant. “To be given the chance at the US Grand Prix is something extremely special to me.
“A massive thank you to Williams for putting the trust and belief in me to do a good job. The goal for me will be to learn as much as possible in the new generation of cars.”
Williams will fulfil the new-for-2022 quota of running drivers with less than three F1 starts in a practice session on two occasions once Sargeant gets in the FW44. They ran Formula E champion Nyck de Vries in first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.
“Logan has demonstrated a great level of ability and maturity so far this season through his accomplishments both on and off the track,” said Williams’ sporting director Sven Smeets.
“He’s delivered race-winning performances in F2 matched by his hard work during simulator sessions. It only felt right to reward these achievements with the opportunity for him to take part in a free practice session at Austin.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him get behind the wheel of the FW44 and how his performance and feedback help the team’s preparations for the race in Austin.”
The only other F2 driver to run in an F1 practice session this year is Juri Vips, who like de Vries got a chance to drive at Barcelona. Vips was driving for Red Bull, who have since sacked him as their reserve driver following an incident in which he used a racial slur.
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