Picture spending more than half of your life in pursuit of a singular dream, only to have that dream dashed in the most public and embarrassing manner. That was Logan Sargeant‘s reality this summer.
The American kid, driving for Williams in Formula 1, was dropped halfway through his second grand prix season after a string of poor results and found himself needing to start over as a professional race car driver. And in life.
Leaving Florida before he was a teenager, Sargeant leapt onto the European karting ladder in the early 2010s along with future four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and followed the path all the way to the top. Living in London, often in solitude while his friends were back home in high school, Sargeant dedicated every aspect of his youth to reaching the pinnacle of international motor racing. And after a brief period basking in F1’s sunlight, it’s time to find a second act.
It’s a transitional process that awaits most athletes in their late 30s and early 40s, but for Sargeant, cruelly, it’s happened at the age of 23. Being rejected by the sport he’d loved forever, which provided his identity and sense of worth in the world, is a lot to process for someone so young.
Returning to the U.S. after the split with Williams, Sargeant faces the pressing need to make two major decisions: What does he do next and where does he go to do it? He’s hoping the next chapter in his career will be found in IndyCar or IMSA’s sports car championship.
“It was a long, long journey in Europe,” Sargeant told ESPN last week at the site of his first IndyCar test with the Indianapolis 500-winning Meyer Shank Racing team. “Plenty of pros and cons. I felt like there were a lot of parts of life that you lack — being on your own over there, just racing constantly — but everything happens for a reason. I feel like being back in America and being back with friends and family, having opportunities over here, might open better doors for myself.
“IndyCar, obviously, is a tough series to get into at the moment. I’m not sure yet on what I’m going to do, so I’m just taking it slow at the minute, so we’ll see what comes in the future. I’m really just looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of an open-wheel race car for the first time in a while.”
Sargeant was a vision of calm and contentment while sitting on the pit wall at The Thermal Club in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. Getting to that place wasn’t easy.
The bruising exit from Williams didn’t leave any physical traces behind, but it clearly exacted an emotional toll. The offer to test with Meyer Shank, even for one day and with no options to race for the team in 2025, was a welcome reset of sorts as it offered Sargeant a chance to feel normal and valued.
Minus the intense focus of the media and throngs of fans that accompany F1, Sargeant got to go back to the basics of being a race car driver without a mountain of pressure or scrutiny being applied to his every lap. And he was fast.
Running second among the six drivers in attendance at the test during the opening session, Sargeant improved to first in the middle outing and was a close third in the final session headed by ex-Sauber F1 driver Felipe Nasr with Team Penske. Despite the strong showing with Meyer Shank, Sargeant has some tall hurdles to clear in the attempt to reignite his career at home.
Thanks to the timing of his departure from Williams, most of the paying seats in IndyCar and IMSA were either taken or earmarked for drivers who’ve since been confirmed. The opportunities left to pursue require a seven-figure financial transaction to place his name on the side of the cockpit, and with Sargeant’s manager telling teams his client expects to be paid for his services, arranging a test was a smart way to showcase Sargeant’s pace and capabilities.
“Having never raced here, obviously the tracks are very different; I’ve never driven any of them outside the F1 tracks and the car is very different to drive, the tires are very different to drive,” he said. “So it’s never easy for someone to just commit to something that is pretty unknown, but I think that’s why tests like this are so valuable, just being able to get in a car and for both sides to really see how I like the car, see how I do in the car, and see how the team likes working with me. And then that obviously spreads through the paddock of what the team thought, what I thought, and how it went. One small opportunity can lead into some big ones.”
Days prior to Thermal, Sargeant tested for the IDEC LMP2 team, which is part of Hyundai’s ramping-up efforts as the Korean automaker prepares to join global prototype endurance racing with its Genesis brand. With a likely debut in 2026 or 2027, an offer to assist in the development of the Genesis GTP car would keep Sargeant busy while hunting for race seats in the interim, but it’s too soon to say whether it’s a path either side will pursue.
For now, the only thing Sargeant has on the immediate horizon is turning 24 on Dec. 31 and an offseason that offers no guarantees of where he’ll be driving in 2025.
“A lot of people are curious about what I’m going to do, and the truth is, I really don’t know,” Sargeant said. “I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily chasing one direction or another. I had a test in a sports car, I have this IndyCar test, and it’s quite a different feeling coming from such a hectic year and a half [in F1].”
Moored to a regimented life of packed racing schedules and never-ending commitments since he was a child, Sargeant is enjoying the new experience of waking each day feeling free and untethered. That feeling won’t last, though. Drivers need to drive.
“It’s the first time I’m not attached to anything,” he continued. “I’m not set in stone to anything. This feels like the first time in a while I’ve really had a decision to do whatever I want. That’s refreshing. It’s a nice feeling, because I was full steam on one path for the past 12 years. I’ve never felt so relaxed about not having something for the following year. I know something will come along.”
