How Logan became America’s first points scorer this century

Some three hours after the conclusion of the 2023 United States Grand Prix, the 30-year wait for an American points scorer in Formula 1 came to an end.

Logan Sargeant had driven a strong race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, crossing the line in P12 – but his evening was about to take a dramatic turn.

News soon filtered around the paddock that two cars were under investigation after issues with their plank before at 7:20pm, it was confirmed they had been disqualified from the race.

America’s and Logan’s wait for an F1 points finish was over, but how did he get there? This is his journey.

Like all his peers, Logan's motorsport story began in karting when he was a young Floridian kid. Hailing from Fort Lauderdale, his early years saw kart racing close to home in-state and across the USA.

Logan soon went transatlantic and began contesting in Europe, culminating in a junior Karting World Championship win in 2015 to join the likes of Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, and our very own Alex Albon, who all won the title on their routes to F1.

Understandably, there was already a buzz about Logan. He was the first American to win the FIA's highest junior karting prize since the 1970s, and a move to single-seater car racing to race in Formula 4 followed in late 2016.

F4 cars lack the same downforce levels their bigger brothers in F1 have but are an excellent step to bridge the karting and car racing worlds. Logan took to single-seaters like a duck to water, with 15 podiums in 18 races during his first championship.

After excelling in British F4 with a third-place finish in his rookie campaign, Logan graduated through multiple European championships before reaching FIA Formula 3 in 2019 to join the F1 support billing.

Logan honed his craft in his first F3 season, taking the most top-ten finishes among his teammates. He also advanced through the field in the Macau Grand Prix – Formula 3's version of the Superbowl – to take a spectacular podium at the acclaimed event.

However, 2020 was when he showed his credentials as a hot prospect while racing in a car more akin to F1 than his previous Formula 4 exploits, thanks to F3's higher power and aerodynamic grip.

In a condensed season thanks to the pandemic, Logan duelled with the highly-rated Oscar Piastri in a season-long title fight where the two continuously took the championship lead from one another.

A first-lap incident in the season's final race heartbreakingly lost Logan the chance to score points and cost him what would likely have been the 2020 Formula 3 title.

With limited options for 2021, Logan remained in Formula 3, joining a team with fewer facilities at the last minute, and still took his car to the front. He took a win and podiums throughout the season to finish an impressive P7 in the standings – ahead of many drivers with front-running cars.

The potential of this young American wasn't lost on Williams Racing, especially after his 2020 and 2021 F3 seasons. Logan joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy in October 2021 at the United States Grand Prix.

With the might of an F1 team now behind him, Logan even got a head start on 2022 by jumping into Formula 2 for one round at the Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit.

One week later, we let him take the reins of our 2021 F1 car at the post-season test to give Logan his first taste of Formula 1 machinery as part of his preparation for the 2022 season and beyond.

Logan's rookie Formula 2 season was incredibly impressive. He took a Sprint Race P3 in Spain to start his podium-reaching ways before adding to his trophy cabinet with second place at his first-ever race weekend at the Baku City Circuit.

One round later at Silverstone – the site of his first Formula 3 win – he was the class of the field in Qualifying, topping the timesheets throughout to take a maiden F2 pole position.

That impressive performance followed through to the race as Logan didn't put a foot wrong to lead from start to finish.

More success was to follow just seven days later in Austria. After qualifying in P3 on Friday, Sunday brought damp conditions meaning he would start on wet tyres.

He dropped to as low as P14, but he stormed through the field to eventually finish where he had started, only for post-race penalties to hand Logan another Feature Race victory.

With the eyes of the motorsport world on him at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Logan would deliver two mature drives in both races to not only lock in his status as Rookie of the Season but also deliver him enough Super Licence points for a full-time drive in Formula 1.

But the long wait for Stateside Formula 1 fans was over – they finally had a driver of their own to root for.

A strong start to the season in Bahrain, including an outstanding opening lap, saw plaudits flood his way after a P12 finish – but Logan will be the first to admit that his rookie F1 season has been far from ideal.

As we arrived at circuits he was more familiar with, we started to see him return to a comfortable place. Good results came at Austria and Silverstone, with a P13 and P11 respectively, but still that fabled points finish eluded him.

The European summer tour came and went, and Logan knew that if he was to score points in his rookie year, it would have to come at a venue he had limited experience at.

A tough Asian double-header came and went before he faced one of the toughest weekends of his motorsport career in Qatar.

In incredibly tough conditions at Lusail, Sarge bravely soldiered on despite battling illness in the cockpit before he took the incredibly commendable decision to pull in and prioritise his own health.

Logan has had quite the run of achievements at Circuit of the Americas in recent seasons. It was here in 2021 where he joined our Driver Academy, and in 2022 it was the sight of his maiden F1 weekend outing.

But his personal story with this popular venue was not over, in 2023 he’d write another chapter.

He didn’t have the Shootout or Qualifying results he’d have hoped for, but a solid Sprint showed a glimmer of hope going into Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Elevated to P16 on the grid, Sarge had a good start and quickly found his rhythm. He made several overtakes throughout the 56-lap race and finished a few seconds down the road from his teammate in P12.

As Sarge departed COTA after a positive weekend, he knew he had a good foundation upon which to build on going into the final four rounds of the season.

However, things would take a dramatic turn when the FIA revealed that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had both been referred to stewards for issues with their planks in the post-race checks.

The Mercedes and Ferrari drivers were disqualified and our duo climbed into the points – Alex taking home two points and one for Logan.

It has been 30 years since an American racer last scored points at the pinnacle of motorsport, Michael Andretti doing so at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.

He also became the first American to score in a US GP since Eddie Cheever at Phoenix in 1989, but for Logan, it is just another milestone in his own personal journey. More stateside success would follow later in the campaign, with his best qualifying result of the season coming at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, locking in a P6 grid spot. On Friday 1 December, it was confirmed that Logan would continue with Williams Racing for the 2024 Formula 1 season.