Logan Sargeant had another weekend to forget at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix which has left his already uncertain future even more in doubt.
A deleted time in qualifying meant he started at the back of the grid and he failed to make any progress through the pack during Sunday’s race.
Williams have a decision to make for 2025 – and potentially before that – and Dutch journalist Jack Plooij has spoken to Ziggo Sport about who could be the potential replacement for Logan Sargeant.
The 23-year-old still only has a single point to his name in his F1 career although he can claim a small victory in Imola.
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Sargeant finished ahead of teammate Alex Albon which has been a rare feat during his time on the grid, although that’s only because the Thai driver had a disastrous pit stop where one of his tyres wasn’t put on correctly and he eventually retired.
Williams now appear to be ‘almost certain’ to replace Sargeant with Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas for 2025.
The £150,000-a-week driver already has plenty of experience driving for the team and would be a brilliant teammate for Albon next season.
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Williams ‘almost certain’ to sign Valtteri Bottas for the F1 2025 season
Team principal James Vowles would have hoped to see a much bigger improvement in Logan Sargeant’s performances during his second season in F1.
He explained after qualifying that he was having trouble adapting to a new circuit, meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg managed to execute a top-ten lap for Haas on his first visit to the track.
Too often Sargeant’s inexperience has let him down and even when he’s shown pace that’s been on a par with Albon, he’s made a mistake that’s ruined his progress.
Valtteri Bottas ironically was the only driver to cross the chequered flag behind Sargeant at Imola.
However, Bottas was also spotted heading into the Williams motorhome at Imola and looks certain to be one of their key targets to replace Sargeant for 2025.
There are so many moving parts in the F1 driver market right now that until an official announcement is made, anything could happen before next season.
But Bottas knows his time is up at Sauber and is now moving quickly to guarantee himself a seat on next year’s grid.
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Valtteri Bottas set to extend Formula 1 career with Williams
Providing his latest update on the driver market, Plooij said: “Still, last time I did indeed state that Valtteri Bottas is probably going to drive at Williams and what has been announced today, take a look at this clip.
“Here you see him out of the engine room, we see here now Logan Sargeant walking up, what’s going on here, there he comes, we caught him, he had just been with the team boss for a moment to very briefly lay down the final details of his contract, so guys just write it down, Valtteri Bottas is going to drive at Williams, it’s going to be almost certain.”
The Dutch journalist revealed on Sunday that he believes another potential Williams target – Esteban Ocon – may have decided to leave Alpine next season.
That may be connected to Bottas’s potentially imminent move to Williams and back up Plooij’s suggestion that he’s almost certain to return to the outfit that handed him his F1 debut.
The Finn would be swapping one currently pointless team for another, but there are certainly positives to gain from joining Williams.
In James Vowles they have one of the most highly-rated team principals on the grid and the difficulties they’re facing in 2024 are in the hope that it provides some long-term success.
That will be scant consolation to Logan Sargeant who may not be too pleased if he watches Bottas and Albon regularly challenging for points next season.
The post ‘Final details’: Journalist now ‘almost certain’ £150k-a-week driver will replace Sargeant at Williams in 2025 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.