Logan Sargeant called out Marcus Ericsson over comments the IndyCar driver made on a podcast relating to the state of his relationship with Williams team principal James Vowles, calling them “completely untrue.”
Ericsson was speaking in Swedish on the Viaplay Formula 1 podcast, and told a story about contacts in the United States suggesting the relationship between Vowles and Sargeant had broken down.
“I was also told this weekend by some American friends who know Sargeant, that he doesn’t have fun in that team,” Ericsson is translated as saying on the podcast. “He thinks it’s really hard, and apparently he and James Vowles don’t even talk with each other anymore. They barely greet each other. It’s completely cut off between them.”
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When Sargeant was asked to clarify if the claims are true ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, the Floridian dismissed them, and was critical of Ericsson’s comments.
“Marcus Ericsson has a reputation of talking about other people without ever even having a conversation with me in his life,” said Sargeant. “So yeah, it doesn’t carry any weight. It’s not true.
“I just had a conversation here with James 20 minutes ago. And most importantly, me and James, we both come here and we want to do the best for the team, we both work in the same direction for what is best for the team, and ultimately, what is best for the team is best for me. So it’s just completely untrue.
“I’ve never spoken to [Ericsson] in my life, so I don’t plan on it either way.”
Sargeant did clarify that he was yet to have one-to-one discussions with Vowles in Belgium, but says he expects to do so and won’t let the speculation over his future impact his situation within Williams.
“It was a group conversation there a minute ago, but I’ll speak to him separately. But I haven’t had the chance to yet.
“It’s been this way for a long time now, so it is what it is. Like I always say, the most important thing is that we’re all working towards the same goal. That will never change. And we all want what’s best for the whole team.”
When made aware of Sargeant’s comments, Ericsson told RACER he was only retelling the story of a conversation he’d had, adding: “I didn’t mean to upset anyone, simply just said what I had heard.”