American driver Logan Sargeant will race F1 in 2023 with Williams

Associated PressNov 21, 2022, 11:30 AM EST
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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Logan Sargeant earned the Super License he needed to race for Williams in Formula One and will become the first American on the F1 grid since 2015 when he makes his debut next season.

The team made the news official with a Monday release.

Sargeant needed to finish at least sixth in the season standings in Formula Two to qualify for an F1 Super License. Williams earlier said the Florida-born driver would get the seat for 2023 if he met the requirements and helped him do so by giving him practice time in F1 sessions.

“It’s a huge honor and a dream come true to be given this opportunity to compete in Formula 1 with Williams Racing,” Sargeant said in a release.

“A massive thank you to every person at Williams Racing and Dorilton Motor Sports for the support they’ve given me since the day I first joined the team at the 2021 United States Grand Prix.

“Being a part of the Williams Driver Academy for the past year has given me an important platform to develop as a driver and prepare me for this next chapter.
“I’m ready and excited to be a part of this journey as the team looks to progress up the grid”.

Sargeant, 21, finished fourth in the F2 standings after a fifth-place result in the last race of the season Sunday.

Sargeant had unexpected help during the race when Jack Doohan, one of the drivers who could have overtaken him in the standings, came into the pits from the lead and lost a wheel on the pit exit. Japan’s Ayumu Iwasa took the win Sunday ahead of F2 champion Felipe Drugovich, a reserve in F1 for Aston Martin.

At Williams, Sargeant takes over a race seat occupied this year by Canada’s Nicholas Latifi. His teammate will be British-born Thai driver Alex Albon.

The most recent U.S. driver in F1 was Alexander Rossi, who started five races for the now-defunct Manor Marussia team. Since then, the popularity of F1 in the United States has soared as a new audience flocked to the sport thanks to the Neftlix documentary series “Drive to Survive.” The U.S. will host three of the 24 races on next season’s calendar as Las Vegas joins existing events in Miami and Austin, Texas.

Another American, IndyCar star Colton Herta, was considered for a seat in F1 for 2023 with the AlphaTauri team but was refused a license. The points system used to determine who is eligible favors FIA-sanctioned series such as F2 over IndyCar and others.

Rossi was among those who supported Herta, saying it was clear he had the talent to compete in F1.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”