MARTIN BRUNDLE’S BRUTAL LOGAN SARGEANT VERDICT AS MERCEDES AND RED BULL BOTH OFFER DRIVERS

Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle says Williams must have reached the conclusion that Logan Sargeant cannot see out the F1 2024 campaign, with Red Bull and Mercedes each offering a replacement option.

This is the second and final season for Sargeant as a Williams driver, with Carlos Sainz signed to take his place from F1 2025, but the team suffered a further hit after Sargeant crashed his upgraded Williams heavily during the final practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix. Sargeant was unhurt, but missed qualifying due to the repairs required.

Mick Schumacher or Liam Lawson to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams?

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Sargeant delivered a good race performance as he crossed the line P16, but Brundle stressed that Williams are not getting any points out of Sargeant, only huge repair bills.

“The problem is they’re not getting the results, Logan’s not scoring points for them,” said Sky F1 pundit Brundle.

“It’s costing them a fortune in repairs and while you’re making replacement parts, you’re not making development parts if all your resource is going in to just keeping two cars on the track.”

Looking back at the brutal F1 driver sackings

👉 F1 driver sackings: The most brutal firings and bitter disputes in F1 history

👉 Revealed: The shortest F1 careers this century in the brutal world of Formula 1

With Alex Albon disqualified from qualifying due to a floor that was too wide, Brundle said these are “difficult times” for Williams, and suggested the team must now be thinking that they cannot afford to keep Sargeant for the remainder of the season.

Two potential replacement options have since emerged in Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher and Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson.

“It’s difficult times for the team, really is, and what do you do about it?” Brundle continued.

“The Contract Recognition Board is where all driver’s contracts are placed. We talk about, ‘Oh they’ll replace this, they’ll change that’, but there are contracts in place, there are sponsorship deals in place. You can’t just change your drivers around.

“But Williams must look at this situation now and think: ‘We can’t afford to keep running Logan Sargeant through the rest of this season.'”

And if Williams team principal James Vowles decided to swap Sargeant out mid-season, then he could turn to his former stomping ground Mercedes for an option with Schumacher available, the German racer having spent two seasons on the F1 grid with Haas in 2021/22.

“I would very much hope that Mick gets the chance, because we haven’t seen the real Mick,” Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com when asked if he would like to see Schumacher in the Williams if they decide to make a change.

“You’re not winning F4, F3 and F2 and you’re underperforming in Formula 1. I think he deserves a chance. I think the opportunity with Williams is something that we would be cheering for.”

He has competition, though, as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is open to the idea of loaning reserve driver Lawson to Williams.

The Kiwi has been guaranteed “a drive” in F1 2025 – either within the Red Bull fold or out on loan – having impressed last season at the Red Bull second team in a five-race stint in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo.

“It would depend on which terms, and if we needed him back, that we could have him back quite quickly,” Horner said.

“But certainly, if they needed a driver next weekend, we’d be open to that – but that’s a Williams question rather than one for us to answer.”

Williams sit P9 in the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship standings, all four of their points scored by Albon.

2024-08-26T07:58:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd