Major blow for Mick Schumacher and out-of-work drivers amid F1 silly season
The American rookie’s seat appeared to be one of the most at-risk on the current grid, with the likes of Mick Schumacher and Alex Palou hoping to earn a full-time seat in the F1 2024 driver line-up.
James Vowles, the Williams team principal, “laughed at the mention of the link to Palou”, according to the Daily Mirror, before confirming he wasn’t in talks with anyone to replace Sargeant.
“You will always have other options come towards you,” Vowles told the Mirror.
“That's just the nature of the sport. It would be foolish to hang up the phone immediately.
“It's fair to say I have contact with near enough every driver on the grid but it doesn't mean there are any active conversations.
“There are no conversations for the seat that is here – that's the best way I can summarise it.
"One of the things I've always done, whether that was at Mercedes or here, is I have a good relationship with pretty much most drivers here and about four in IndyCar, just because they're really good peddlers and deserve a chance one day.
“But our focus is on Alex Albon and Logan and making sure that we absolutely create an environment to win.”
Vowles insisted that Sargeant’s early retirement from the F1 Dutch Grand Prix was a team error, and not the rookie’s fault. He blamed the car losing hydraulic pressure.
He is yet to score his first point in F1 after 14 rounds.
But Vowles backed Sargeant: "My plan A is investing in Logan and making sure we get the absolute most out of him.
“We keep forgetting that these guys and girls are in their young 20s. That's it. They're composed, educated individuals who know they are going to have to deliver.
"In Logan's case, he knows this is a meritocracy and he knows he needs to perform. But there's a no-blame culture.
“If you take someone and say, 'You're not doing a good enough job', what happens? It doesn't particularly help the situation.
“What he needs to know is that he has tremendous potential in him and he knows that. He knows that we tried to accelerate his journey into the sport one year too early, but it was the right decision at the time.
"What he needs now is an environment where he's able to take all that learning and use it to good effect, not worry about issues or mistakes but learning to build on them week in, week out.
“And that's the environment we're creating around him at the moment. It will take time.
"This is by far the hardest year for rookies by a long way. We don't have 'normal race weekends' anymore.
“Something is always changing so dynamically, you don't know what's going on. But he's dealing with it with maturity and he knows that I have his back and we're here to support him.
“Let's find the journey that pushes him up the grid because that's what I want for him as well."
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
