The jump into Formula 1 is never easy for a rookie. But every once in a while, they hope they’ll be able to emulate what Lewis Hamilton did in 2007. They hope they’ll be good enough to fight for races. They hope they’ll be good enough to fight for championships. And sometimes, they just hope they’ll be good enough. Good enough to stay in F1 long enough to prove themselves. For Oscar Piastri, 2023 has worked out in his favor. But it’s been a struggle for the driver he grew up racing against—Logan Sargeant.

This season, Williams snatched Sargeant up from F2 and put him alongside Alexander Albon. While the British-Thai driver is having quite the season, his American teammate is struggling to cope. He’s at the bottom of the standings, the only driver (raced in all rounds) without a point. But the standings he is topping are the costs incurred due to crash damages. In recent weeks, his seat has come under heavy scrutiny because of his sub-par performances. Now, he’s hit back by making quite a strong case for himself.

2007 Lewis Hamilton had an advantage over Logan Sargeant

Along with Sargeant, many have questioned Williams as well. Why? At the end of the day, Sargeant is the team’s driver, and Williams has put its faith in him. Since he isn’t performing, many have asked team principal James Vowles if he will do anything about it. At the Qatar GP, Vowels laid everything out there and made his intentions crystal clear. He said, We´ve taken someone straight out of Formula 2, put him a day and a half in Bahrain in this car, and then wished them well on a season that has been awfully challenging for rookie drivers.”

If you feel that Piastri is doing a good job (which he is), he spent 2022 entirely on F1 testing. That’s where Sargeant is at a disadvantage, not only to Piastri but also to Hamiton. In a recent interview, Sergeant said, “When Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton debuted, they had endless days of testing. Now, whenever you test in a test, it is with a car from a previous generation, and that makes a difference. Even if it had more days during the winter, whatever the car it was, it would have been better.” [Translated by Google] 

As Vowles said, Sergeant got just a little more than a day to get used to an F1 car. There have been times when the American has performed well in a session. It’s just that he hasn’t had time to learn how to put it all together. Sargeant feels he just needs more time, and Vowles is ready to give it to him. “At the end of the year, I’ll be able to look him in the eyes and know that we’ve given him the best opportunity or that he is going to be in the car next year, but let’s provide him the time to be able to do that,” Vowles told F1.

Read More: 14-Year-Old Logan Sargeant Ditched Lewis Hamilton to Reveal 3 F1 Heroes: “Just Like the Legacy They Have Built”

Apart from giving rookies time to grow, the Williams team principal also sounded alarm bells for F1 in terms of the opportunities it provides.

James Vowles isn’t too happy with F1’s entry opportunities

The 2023 season has seen four rookies—Sargeant, Piastri, Nyck De Vries, and Liam Lawson. After Red Bull sacked De Vries, Daniel Ricciardo stepped in. he fractured his hand, and Liam Lawson got his F1 debut as a super-sub. For the five race weekends he drove for AlphaTauri, he did a phenomenal job. But now that Ricciardo has recovered, Lawson has been shown the door for 2023. What’s worse is that he proved he has what it takes to be in F1, but he still doesn’t have a seat for 2024. Red Bull simply has no place for him at the moment.

Vowles gave his take on Lawson and F1’s rookie situation. He said, “I think we as a sport have a responsibility to perhaps relook at the rules and say, ‘How do we introduce rookie drivers to it?’ You can see Liam will be sidelined, but I think he’s absolutely deserving of a seat on this grid. It’s a reflection of these difficult Sprint race formats, followed by one-hour sessions, followed by a lack of opportunity to grow.” 

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What do you think will be Williams’ verdict on Logan Sargeant? Do you agree with the American’s take that Lewis Hamilton had more time to adjust?