Florida's F1 Star: Logan Sargeant

Formula 1 heading to Miami takes the sport to new levels with manmade marinas, a party atmosphere, and the paddock sitting in a world-class stadium.

For Williams Racing's American driver Logan Sargeant, though, the Miami GP is a homecoming event.

Logan is the only driver from the USA on the F1 billing and, thus, the only one with three races in his home country.

His first taste of a Formula 1 car came at Austin, and his best qualifying so far was in Las Vegas, but Miami is where this Floridian's heart is.

The Miami International Autodrome, the temporary track surrounding the city's Hard Rock Stadium, is just 10 minutes from where Logan's racing journey began.

Back then, there was no way of knowing that the journey he and his family embarked on would take them all around the globe and still end up in Florida with the F1 dream achieved.

A Christmas present from Logan's parents, Dan and Madelyn, brought four-wheeled racing into the Sargeant family.

The six-year-old Logan and his brother Dalton enjoyed a winter surprise on their family driveway when two karts appeared.

These karts represented a change of footing for the Sargeants, who lived on the Fort Lauderdale leg of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

"Being on the water was all we did when growing up," recalls Logan. "I love wake surfing, wakeboarding, regular surfing, fishing, spearfishing..."

Swapping the waterways for the racetrack, a trip to the city of Opa-locka, just north of Miami, changed the Sargeants' lives.

"Before I knew it, we were racing all around the country," Logan explains.

Races at regional and national levels are the starting points for all F1 drivers, but a difficult decision to pursue the journey from a competitive hobby to a career soon followed.

"One minute, it's Christmas, I'm six, and me and Dalton are yelling at the top of our lungs. Next minute, I'm 11 and Dalton's 14.

"We're sitting at the table eating lunch... chowing down on burgers, and my dad gets to asking us about racing.

Finally, he's like, "What do you guys think? Do you really want to race in Europe?"

To reach the pinnacle of motorsport, competing against the best karters is the way to go, and for the Sargeants, that meant heading to Europe.

"He gave up a normal childhood," explained Dan, Logan's father. "There's no birthday parties. There's no going to friends houses. There's no sleepovers..."

The whole Sargeant family changed everything to chase this dream, so Logan still had his brother Dalton to chase.

"Every race, we were up against all these other kids, but he was always the one I was really trying to beat," Logan remembers.

But it wouldn't last forever, with Dalton deciding to move back to the USA, eventually reaching NASCAR, leaving Logan to race as the sole Sargeant in Europe.

His abilities and talent grew, and he became the first American since the 1970s to win the karting CIK-FIA World Championship to establish his name in the racing scene.

Nonetheless, his heart remained on the Floridian waterways: "I remember one big time was the summer right after Dalton went back.

"We took this trip to the Bahamas with some of our extended family and friends. We were on the water, and everything was feeling like old times."

Back in Europe, he had jumped from karts to cars, rising through the ranks to Formula 2 and moving from Switzerland to the UK.

"It was so different to anything I'd known back home," Logan admits.

"No ocean, obviously. It was especially tough when I moved to London. I really wasn't a fan at all.

"The winter months are pretty gloomy here! Pretty difficult and draining, to be honest, mentally.

"Now I enjoy it, but it took a long time to get there."

After his maiden FP1 session at the 2022 US Grand Prix, it was the Sargeant's Florida home where Logan returned ahead of his all-important Abu Dhabi F2 season finale.

The familiar Fort Lauderdale setting is something his parents know helps. "He can go for a boat ride, he can see his dog, then he goes back," they say. " Even a couple of days... it makes the difference."

Logan agrees, "It's just good to see familiar faces. Even just chilling around the house is all I want to do.

"In another life, I'd probably be at the University of Florida, going to Gators games and partying with all my friends I grew up with."

With his second Miami Grand Prix coming, it's the best of both for Logan, who will enjoy the unique mix of the Sunshine State and Formula 1 action, although there sadly aren't any Gators games until the summer!