Logan Sargeant’s return to open-wheel racing came in a perfect setting on Tuesday at The Thermal Club . The private nature of the test attended by six NTT IndyCar Series teams gave the Floridian a chance to explore a new car in an expectation-free …
Logan Sargeant’s return to open-wheel racing came in a perfect setting on Tuesday at The Thermal Club . The private nature of the test attended by six NTT IndyCar Series teams gave the Floridian a chance to explore a new car in an expectation-free environment in Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 06 Honda.
Strapped into an unfamiliar Dallara DW12 chassis, at a road course he’d never seen, the 23-year-old former Williams F1 driver was immediately quick, posting the second-fastest lap during the three-hour morning session. He leapt to first in the early afternoon outing, and in the third and final — and fastest — session in the cool desert air, Sargeant finished his maiden IndyCar run in third, 0.192s off of Team Penske’s Felipe Nasr.
Adapting to a heavier car with suboptimal weight distribution and center of gravity figures when compared to the last open-wheeler he drove, a new type of tire, and being tasked with providing chassis and engine feedback to MSR and Honda made for a busy day, but Sargeant was unfazed by the numerous challenges that were presented.
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“It was a good day and clearly it’s quite a unique car to drive — quite different to most of the cars I’ve ever been in in the past,” Sargeant told RACER. “I feel like it’s one of those things you’ve got to work through to understand what the car needs to work with you the best. But nonetheless, we got through a lot of good stuff for the team going into next year. All in all, it was a pretty, pretty clean and solid day, but there’s still plenty more in there.”
The last few years spent on Pirelli rubber in Formula 2 and F1 made learning the driving needs of Firestone’s primary tire one of the bigger takeaways from the test for Sargeant. Thermal’s notoriously high tire degradation rate –significant grip offered by new tires can be lost in less than five laps — only added to the complexities he faced.
“Particularly on the tire, I expected to be able to rag on it a little bit harder, but that clearly wasn’t the case,” he said. “With the amount of weight that’s on the car now, the amount of weight transfer, it’s just quite easy to slide on top of the tire. It becomes quite important to try and keep the tire temperatures under control and even throughout a lap to try and get the most out of it. It’s a tricky one — it’s actually a lot more peaky than I was anticipating going into it and a bit more finicky, but that just means those are things you’ve got to consider and work through.”
Sargeant’s approach was well-received by the MSR crew. Rather than sequester himself inside the upper lounge in MSR’s transporter, he spent Monday outside with the team as they got set up for the test, and again on Tuesday, rarely more than a few feet away from the hub of activity around the car before and after runs.
One team veteran, expecting to receive a distant and aloof F1 driver, was surprised by how normal and approachable Sargeant proved to be. And when it was time to work, it was all business as radio communications and engineering debriefs sounded and looked like any other with leading IndyCar drivers.
With only four seats left to fill, and only one that could offer to pay a professional like Sargeant, his odds of landing on the IndyCar grid next season are remote, but he’d welcome the chance to break into the series in a race seat or as a stand-in if needed.
“If there was an opportunity there to jump into a car, I would definitely do it,” he said. “I had a good time working with the MSR guys; it’s just such a good atmosphere, such a different atmosphere. This was much more enjoyable than the things that I’ve experienced in the past — just easier and a bit more fun to connect with all the people in the team. I had a good time meeting them, working with them and I think that was also felt on the other side. No doubt it was an enjoyable experience.”
Meyer Shank Racing will give former Williams Racing Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant his first NTT IndyCar Series test. The two-car squad owned by Mike Shank and Jim Meyer has confirmed to RACER that it will make use of their final evaluation test …
Meyer Shank Racing will give former Williams Racing Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant his first NTT IndyCar Series test.
The two-car squad owned by Mike Shank and Jim Meyer has confirmed to RACER that it will make use of their final evaluation test day to run Sargeant at The Thermal Club in Thermal, California, the private facility that transitions into a full championship event next season.
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The 23-year-old American will sample the 17-turn, 3.067-mile road course on November 19 in one of the team’s Honda-powered Dallara DW12s.
Starting in 2023, Sargeant contested 37 F1 races for Williams before being replaced by Argentina’s Franco Colapinto in August, which came after months of speculation the Floridian would not be retained by Williams for 2025.
Anticipating the change of circumstances at the storied grand prix team, Sargeant’s manager contacted an array of IndyCar teams in recent months to inquire about paying opportunities for his client.
Despite the limited number of teams left with the ability to hire drivers at this stage of the year, Sargeant traveled to Nashville Speedway for the September 14-15 season finale to take meeting with multiple teams. The time spent with Meyer and Shank proved beneficial as they were impressed with Sargeant’s character; the offer of a test was presented at Nashville and duly accepted.
The single-day trip to the outskirts of Palm Springs will mark MSR’s road course testing debut for its new technical alliance forged with defending series champions Chip Ganassi Racing, which will provide dampers, chassis setups, and engineering personnel.
The MSR-Ganassi relationship takes its first steps on an oval in October when Helio Castroneves, winner of the 2021 Indianapolis 500, will test, and then moves to Thermal where both sides of the alliance will get an in-depth look at Sargeant’s skills.
Although MSR and Ganassi have no vacancies across their five combined entries for 2025, the test will give Sargeant a chance to showcase his abilities for any teams that have been wanting to see how he fares in an IndyCar.
Williams team principal James Vowles says he was convinced Logan Sargeant had reached the limit of his performance and revealed what led him to pick Franco Colapinto over more experienced options to replace the American. Sargeant was dropped after …
Williams team principal James Vowles says he was convinced Logan Sargeant had reached the limit of his performance and revealed what led him to pick Franco Colapinto over more experienced options to replace the American.
Sargeant was dropped after last Sunday’s race in Zandvoort, with rookie Colapinto taking over from this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix onwards. The change came after months of speculation regarding Sargeant’s future and a heavy crash in practice, and Vowles (pictured at right, above, with Colapinto, middle) says it was a move he didn’t want to make but felt he had to as he didn’t see any further potential progression on the cards.
“If you speak to every team principal up and down the pit lane, no one wants to change a driver mid-season,” Vowles said. “It’s horrible. It is incredibly tough on the driver, it’s tough on the team, it is disruptive to say the least. The cleanest point to have done it would have been at the beginning of the year.
“Logan at the end of last year was starting to get within a tenth of Alex [Albon] and if that progression continued I think we would have seen a driver in a very strong place this year, and it didn’t feel like the right point to sever ties as a result of it.
“The reason now is straightforward — we’ve had enough experience under our belt to know he’s reached the limit of what he’s able to achieve, and in fact it’s almost unfair on him furthermore to continue with him. If you look at his face when he gets out of the car, he’s given you everything he possibly can, and it’s not enough.
“He absolutely never from a human perspective gave me anything other than 100% of what he’s able to do, but the realization of where he is on his limits now is very clear; it’s clear to everyone, and more than that, the relationship can only become more and more difficult across the last nine races because he knows what his future holds, which is not to be in F1 anymore.
“Actually a clean break at this stage feels like the correct decision for all parties. It feels like it’s fair to Logan — he won’t feel that way today, but I hope he reflects on it in the future that it is fair towards him in that regard.
Sargeant’s heavy crash in practice at Zandvoort was the last straw in convincing Vowles that his progression as an F1 driver had ended. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
“Changing between back-to-back races really is an awful thing to do, which hopefully shows you where we are in this. And to be very clear to everyone it wasn’t just based on an accident, it was based on in the race he had all of the parts that Alex had available to him, but the performance wasn’t there, he was lacking in that area, and the gap’s almost as big as it was last year.”
Colapinto was a surprising choice given his lack of experience, with the Argentinian competing in his first season of Formula 2 this year but now stepping up for the final nine races. Vowles says he informed Sargeant of the decision on Tuesday and while he had two more experienced options he didn’t see Mick Schumacher as a strong enough candidate to pick over a Williams Driver Academy member.
“There were three options on the table — one was Liam Lawson, one was Mick, and one was Franco,” Vowles said. “With Liam the contractual situation with Red Bull wouldn’t have worked with me here at Williams. And then it’s a tough choice, it really is. Mick has improved a lot from where he was with Haas, there’s no doubt about it. He’s a competent driver that I know he had his time, but he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes, and with McLaren in the meantime, and all advocates will speak with you and tell you where he’s adapted and where he’s changed.
“So now the decision is do we put Mick in the car — and I think Mick would have done a good job — or do we invest in an individual that’s a part of our academy, that’s done hundreds of thousands of laps in the simulator, that’s driven our car –the only driver to do so this year in FP1 — and on the data from what we can see and how he’s performing, he’s making significant steps.
“So it becomes a decision, do we invest in the future or do we invest in someone else as a result of it? Both will fall into a category of good, not special, I think we have to be straightforward about this: Mick isn’t special, he just would have been good.”
So far, so good: Franco Colapinto was only 0.192s slower than new Williams teammate Alex Albon in the second practice session at Monza. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
Vowles emphasized Colapinto’s place in the team’s academy was key.
“He [Schumacher] would have come with a lot more experience than Franco does, but here’s what I and Williams believe in, the core values: Williams has always invested in new generations of driver and youth, and what I’ve been speaking about all the way through is the future of Williams, and the future of Williams isn’t in investing in the past, it’s investing in talent that allows us to move forward as individuals.
“It’s investing in an academy — you’ll see announcements in the next six weeks or so how we’re filling up that academy — and the amount of finance we’re putting into it, and when you’re putting that amount of finance into your academy you’ve got to put your actions where your words are as well.
“I myself 25 years ago was junior and someone trusted in me and believed in me and invested in me. Franco’s ahead in the F2 championship of [Kimi] Antonelli, he’s ahead of [Oliver] Bearman, and he’s with MP, which with all due respect to MP it’s not Prema or ART, and he’s doing a good job of building up into it.
“Do I think we’ve put someone into the deep end of the swimming pool? Absolutely, 100%, but if you listen to Franco’s own words you’ll hear that he’s up for it, and he knows what’s in front of him, and he’s ready for the challenge.
“So answering your question, I want to demonstrate to the world that investing in a driver that I hope will become a very successful reserve driver for us, simulator driver for us — and other aspects depending on how he performs — is investing in the future of Williams.”
The United States saw its sole representative among the drivers on the Formula 1 grid lose his seat on Tuesday, as Williams opted to drop Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the season in favor of Formula 2 racer Franco Colapinto (pictured above). …
The United States saw its sole representative among the drivers on the Formula 1 grid lose his seat on Tuesday, as Williams opted to drop Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the season in favor of Formula 2 racer Franco Colapinto (pictured above). It was a clinical decision, made off the back of a heavy crash in FP3 at Zandvoort that cost Williams a huge amount of money, as well as damaged a number of upgraded components. Those components had been delayed in terms of their introduction from much earlier in the year, when Williams also had to deal with a lot of repair work.
To be fair to Sargeant, he wasn’t the only one of the two drivers to crash earlier in the year, with Alex Albon writing off a chassis in Melbourne when Williams didn’t have a spare, and subsequently being given Sargeant’s car as the American was withdrawn from the rest of the weekend. But the demands on Sargeant had been set out by team principal James Vowles, who wanted to see the 23-year-old getting closer to Albon’s level of performance on a regular basis. Not crashing heavily was taken as a given.
A year ago, Sargeant crashed twice during the Zandvoort weekend, once in qualifying — having reached Q3 for the first time — and then again in the race. At the time, if you could have fast-forwarded 12 months you’d have expected to see a little more consistency in his performance, and a lot less propensity to damage the car.
So the decision was not taken solely on performance potential, because Sargeant has shown flashes of what he can do. But with no points this season, it was deemed time to roll the dice to see if it could find a safer pair of hands that could simultaneously increase the chances of scoring.
On that basis, Colapinto did not top my list of expected replacements. In fact, uncertainty over his Super License status and the fact he’s only in his first year of F2 meant I largely dismissed his name’s inclusion in the pool of drivers being considered by Williams over the weekend at Zandvoort. But the 21-year-old Argentinian has clearly impressed the team enough to be deemed a better choice than having Sargeant to complete the season, with both knowing that Carlos Sainz will arrive in 2025.
In that sense, the pressure is off for Colapinto. It’s not an audition for a race seat, and he has nothing to lose. But his racing record would suggest he wouldn’t have pushed beyond his own means in the hope of impressing either way.
Colapinto earned four of his Super License points for completing an FIA championship — each of his two Formula 3 seasons — without receiving any penalty points, a trend he has continued this year in F2. He’s also brought the car home in every race bar two this season, both due to reliability issues.
Colapinto’s get-acquainted sessions with the Williams FW46 mean he won’t be coming in completely cold. Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Williams has been able to see Colapinto’s potential through two outings in current machinery, with him completing the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi last year and then making his FP1 debut at Silverstone back in July. On the latter occasion, he was 0.4s off Albon, but also managed 24 laps, ensuring he exceeded 100km without penalty and picked up another Super License point.
Of the other main candidates that came across the radar in recent weeks, all are tied to other teams, with Liam Lawson the Red Bull and RB reserve driver, Jack Doohan the same at Alpine and Mick Schumacher also fulfilling reserve duties for Mercedes at times. All three could theoretically have been called back by their parent teams if required at short notice, leaving Williams scrambling. Instead, Colapinto brings a certainty that he will see out the season.
Williams is also following its own mantra by backing a young driver that has come through its academy, having signed Sargeant and placed him in F2 before promoting him in 2023, and now doing exactly the same with his replacement.
It’s a big ask for Colapinto to deliver performances, but he has won at Monza on numerous occasions in the junior categories, and will be racing this weekend on a track that he knows well, even if that isn’t in F1 machinery.
Costly errors in terms of results or lap time will be accepted for a rookie being dropped into the car at late notice, but the one thing Williams and Vowles will be telling Colapinto to avoid is the expensive mistake that heavily damages a car.
Do that over the next nine races and Colapinto will likely return to F2 next year as a talent as closely watched as Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman. Fail, and Williams will have learned a lot about one of its top young prospects, but also missed out on little given Sargeant’s lack of results and the stability to the future lineup that Sainz brings alongside Albon.
The team had little to lose, but Colapinto potentially has a lot to gain.
Pierre Gasly topped a severely curtailed wet final practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix after a big Logan Sargeant crash triggered a red flag that absorbed most of the hour. Sargeant was on his fourth lap on intermediate tires on the drying but …
Pierre Gaslytopped a severely curtailed wet final practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix after a big Logan Sargeant crash triggered a red flag that absorbed most of the hour.
Sargeant was on his fourth lap on intermediate tires on the drying but treacherously slippery circuit when he lost control of his car exiting the banked left-handed Hugenholtz corner.
The American got too happy on the power too early, putting his foot down with his right-hand tires still on the grass. It sent him spinning across the track and into a big collision with the steel barrier on the outside of the circuit.
The Williams wreckage came to rest in the middle of the track – missing most of its bodywork and its rear-right tire having freed itself – where it dramatically caught fire.
Sargeant, thankfully unhurt, clambered from his car and escaped to safety while marshals tended to the smoldering heap.
Williams expects at least a new chassis will be required if Sargeant is to take part in qualifying later today.
Red flags were deployed with just over 45 minutes on the clock. It took 15 minutes just to get what was left of Sargeant’s car back to pit lane, and barrier repairs soaked up almost the rest of the session.
Race control got final practice back underway with just two minutes on the clock, prompting a frantic rush for pit exit so that drivers could get even a rudimentary feel for conditions in which qualifying could take place later today.
The entire field minus Sargeant and Fernando Alonso piled onto the track, but not everyone was able to set a time in the jockeying for position that followed.
Combined with the conditions, it delivered a classification sheet unrepresentative of the competitive order.
Gasly set the benchmark at 1m 20.311s, beating Kevin Magnussen to the position by 0.139s.
Valtteri Bottas followed ahead of Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll down to eighth.
Nico Hulkenberg was ninth after taking repairs for an unusual crash in the opening 15 minutes. The German speared off the road at Turn 11 on his first lap on intermediates, his tires too happy to lock up on the application of the brakes.
“It’s again the same as yesterday, I touched the brake and I lock up,” Hulkenberg said, recalling his FP2 crash triggered by a locked rear axle that sent him into the barriers.
Carlos Sainz, having missed most of FP2 with a gearbox issue, completed just six laps on his way to 10th, leaving him down on mileage ahead of qualifying.
Zhou Guanyu was 11th ahead of the crashed Sargeant, George Russell, Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo down to 18th.
Verstappen was shown a black-and-white flag in the final minutes of the session for crossing the white line on pit exit as he attempted to pass cars for position as the clock ticked down.
Neither Yuki Tsunoda nor Sergio Perez set a lap time at the bottom of the classification.
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 …
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.”
For the briefest of moments, IndyCar’s silly season has hit the pause button. Theo Pourchaire was in and then he was out. Nolan Siegel was looking to 2025 to fully launch his career, but now he’s in. Alexander Rossi is in, but he’ll need to find a …
For the briefest of moments, IndyCar’s silly season has hit the pause button.
Theo Pourchaire was in and then he was out. Nolan Siegel was looking to 2025 to fully launch his career, but now he’s in. Alexander Rossi is in, but he’ll need to find a new home because he’s due to be out in September. David Malukas was out, now he’s in, but only temporarily. And Christian Lundgaard remains in, but he’s headed towards a bigger spotlight.
Despite the temporary break in silliness, don’t let down your guard just yet; there’s plenty of action on the horizon. It’s been a few months since our last installment, so let’s look at where things stand heading into the final eight races.
Among the racers who are in the series and widely known to be unsigned for next year, Arrow McLaren’s Rossi leads the group, due to his experience and track record. Malukas is gaining ground, however, after his starring performances for Meyer Shank Racing at Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio. Ed Carpenter Racing has the other well-known free agent in Rinus VeeKay, who went through the process last year, came close to leaving, but signed a one-year extension.
Prior to the return by Malukas, I had VeeKay right behind Rossi as the top talent left on the market, but from my calls across the paddock this week, Malukas has moved ahead of VeeKay, and in select instances, in front of Rossi.
Of the existing teams with seats in need of drivers in 2025, it’s Dale Coyne Racing with its Nos. 18 and 51 Hondas, Meyer Shank with the No. 66 Honda currently occupied by Malukas, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with the No. 45 that will be vacated by Arrow McLaren-bound Lundgaard.
Another big player in the silly season is PREMA Racing, which has two new entries on the way next year.
There are other teams that could also be open for business, and some have come as a surprise. Most in that category are pursuing racing’s rarest unicorn — fast and well-funded drivers — and we’ll get to those teams after we work through some of the outside drivers looking in.
Top of the list here is Pourchaire, whose brief foray with Arrow McLaren piqued the interest of numerous team owners. If there’s a downside for the Formula 2 champion, it’s how in many cases, the teams who would love to sign him also have budget shortfalls to resolve. As one team owner said, “Pourchaire, plus money, would be the perfect situation.”
Sadly, the Frenchman isn’t a paying driver, so his options are limited to the few teams who are looking to hire. There’s a handful of other names with those who’ve been in the series this year like Callum Ilott, Toby Sowery and Tristan Vautier, who’ve either been working hard to do more or would welcome a call to continue, but Pourchaire has been the first ‘outsider’ mentioned by team owners within this group. We also have Hunter McElrea, who just completed his first test, and could race for Coyne in the coming weeks.
Of the many who I’ve asked, two IndyCar teams (who did not want to be identified) told me they’ve been contacted by and spoken with a representative for Sargeant, and both said the same thing: The Williams driver is interested in IndyCar or sports cars, and wants to be paid to drive.
Coming off a season-best run to 11th last weekend in Silverstone, Sargeant’s been spoken of in a positive manner by multiple owners. But with so few teams who are sitting on a budget to hire a driver, there are some IndyCar veterans who are more likely to get the nod before Sargeant, which could limit his options.
One recent report had Sargeant on the way to PREMA, but when I asked if they’d signed him, or any other driver, Piers Phillips, the team’s IndyCar CEO, offered a succinct answer of, “No.”
F2 drivers, as they’ve done at an increasing rate this decade, have been active in calling IndyCar team owners. F2 race winner Zane Maloney, who sits third in the F2 standings, is one name to watch, and behind him in fourth, fellow winner Gabriel Bortoleto is another prospect whose name I’ve heard in relation to chasing an IndyCar ride. It would be a surprise if they were the only two from F2 who are hunting for IndyCar seats.
On the American open-wheel ladder, there’s no lack of talent in search of an IndyCar home. Indy NXT championship leader Louis Foster and second-place Jacob Abel will be ready to graduate at the end of the season, and among the NXT drivers behind them who are in their second year (or more) in the series, Reece Gold, Jamie Chadwick, James Roe and Josh Pierson are on the clock to try and step up to IndyCar, return and make another run at winning the NXT title, or look to IMSA or another form of racing to continue their careers.
There’s one major item to consider before we run through the remaining teams, and it’s the sheer volume of drivers hoping to land on the grid.
Take the big group from NXT, add them to the F1/F2 drivers that we know of, plus those we don’t, and those already in or around IndyCar, and it’s a numbers game that will leave most on the sidelines when we get to the championship-opener in March. But the pool of options could widen beyond the six vacancies Coyne, Meyer Shank, PREMA and Rahal Letterman Lanigan could have.
A.J. Foyt Racing has been a revelation this year with its No. 14 Chevy driven by Santino Ferrucci. No team has authored a bigger turnaround than Foyt, which entered into a new technical alliance with Team Penske last summer and has Ferrucci holding 13th in the standings — just eight points behind Lundgaard — after nine races, eight of which were road and street courses.
And now, with ovals dominating the rest of the calendar where Ferrucci and Penske cars tend to thrive, there’s a great chance for the No. 14 to creep towards the top 10 before the season finale. His teammate, Sting Ray Robb, is last in the standings — 23rd — among those who’ve contested every race.
According to team president Larry Foyt, the duo aren’t signed beyond 2024, which means change is possible. In light of the team’s newfound pace, it has commanded a lot of interest from other drivers.
“I’m talking to both of my guys,” Foyt told RACER. “I think they both have interest in staying and I’m working on that. But nothing is confirmed yet.”
Ed Carpenter Racing is happy with Christian Rasmussen’s progress but is still mulling options, while Rahal Letterman Lanigan has a preferred option but nothing finalized to fill Christian Lundgaard’s No. 45. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images
Ed Carpenter is in the same position with his duo of VeeKay and Christian Rasmussen, who at Mid-Ohio generated the best qualifying performance and race result of his rookie campaign.
“We’re working through all that as we go, and keeping an eye on what’s going on,” said Carpenter, who also confirmed he’ll be returning to the ovals next year. “We definitely like both guys that we have, but we’ve yet to make a final decision or get anything fully done with either of them. We’re going through all the scenarios and making sure we’re where we need to be on the back end of everything before we pull the trigger on exactly what we’re doing. It’s definitely an interesting driver market.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing welcomed Romain Grosjean to the team this season to join sophomore Agustin Canapino. Grosjean made Juncos Hollinger a contender for its first IndyCar podium at Laguna Seca and came close with a team-best of fourth since it debuted in 2017.
Despite its competitive flashes with Grosjean, the team has struggled to find sponsors to support the program. And with Canapino one spot ahead of Robb at the rear of the championship, Juncos Hollinger is another team that isn’t guaranteed to look the same when it returns in 2025.
“We don’t know. We have it all open,” said co-owner Ricardo Juncos, who confirmed they’ll remain at two cars. “The agreements are all options, and all depending on budget. So we’re working really hard to try to identify how much budget we have for next year, and based on that, the choice of the drivers.
“If we can, I can choose the driver I want. If not, sometimes we need some help from the drivers. That’s the way it is. So I don’t know at the moment. It’s little bit too early to see, so I don’t know if we stay the same or not, to be honest.”
Felix Rosenqvist is in the first of a multi-year deal with the team owned by Mike Shank and Jim Meyer, which leaves the increasingly coveted second entry and his future teammate as the key seat to lock down. Keeping Malukas would appear to be the smartest decision, but Meyer Shank is not his only suitor.
Prior to his return, Malukas was a giant question mark due to his wrist injury and also because of the incomplete picture of his capabilities while learning at Coyne. Cue Meyer Shank parking Tom Blomqvist and the oval-heavy schedule to close the season, and Malukas became a perfect no-risk substitute to help get the No. 66 Honda into Leaders Circle contention before searching for a full-time replacement.
And then Malukas made it plain for all to see at Laguna and again at Mid-Ohio that he’s worthy of the paddock’s attention, along with being invited to stay at Meyer Shank for years to come. There’s also no shortage of drivers who would love to take the No. 66 from Malukas, so decisions are looming on both sides.
“We’re way happy with him,” Shank said. “We’ve given ourselves a timetable until after Toronto, so we just want to get next two weeks in the books, and then we’ll see where we’re at.”
Bobby Rahal told us recently that he’s keen on elevating Rahal Letterman Lanigan reserve driver Juri Vips to replace Lundgaard in the No. 45 Honda, but stopped short of saying it was going to happen. And Rahal Letterman Lanigan could have a second opening.
Young IndyCar veteran and Rahal Letterman Lanigan newcomer Pietro Fittipaldi is 20th in the championship with the No. 30 Honda, and from a June interview, Rahal said, “I really can’t tell you exactly what it will look like yet; obviously we like Pietro and we hope he stays. But yes, there’s too many butts, too few seats at this stage.”
Circling back to the main free agents, where might we find Rossi in 2025? Depending on the day, I’ve been told it’s Ganassi — which has been telling free agents it has no openings — or Rahal Letterman Lanigan, or Carpenter, or PREMA. Coyne and Meyer Shank are the only teams I haven’t heard Rossi’s name associated with in a serious manner.
For Malukas, it’s Meyer Shank, Rahal Letterman Lanigan and PREMA, and I’ve heard the same three for VeeKay, as well.
Take the Pourchaires, Fosters, Sargeants, Maloneys, Abels and the rest, run them through the four primary teams in need at Coyne, Meyer Shank, PREMA, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan, then add the possibilities that could emerge at Carpenter, Foyt, and Juncos Hollinger, and there’s a lot of business left to take place before the silly season is over.
Williams is “continually evaluating” the possibility of replacing Logan Sargeant during this season, team principal James Vowles admits. Sargeant has been under pressure at Williams for the majority of his 18 months with the team so far, due to a …
Williams is “continually evaluating” the possibility of replacing Logan Sargeant during this season, team principal James Vowles admits.
Sargeant has been under pressure at Williams for the majority of his 18 months with the team so far, due to a number of expensive crashes last season and a lack of results compared to teammate Alex Albon. While there have been standout moments such as a pair of Q3 appearances last year and a stronger showing at Silverstone last weekend where he finished 11th, Sargeant’s failed to score a point so far in 2024 and Vowles says Williams is open to a mid-season change of driver.
“We’re continually evaluating it,” Vowles said. “What we’ve said to Logan is it’s a meritocracy. You have to make sure you earn your place in the sport continuously. That’s been the same message that has been for 18 months really for him. And we are open-minded to things.
“What I’ve said before and I’ve maintained today, is that our car — and this is a responsibility on my shoulders and the team — isn’t quick enough. It’s not a driver issue we suffer from today. We’ve simply been out-developed and we have to make sure we accelerate that process.”
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With Sargeant almost certain to lose his seat next year, Carlos Sainz has been the main target for Williams when it comes to its 2025 lineup but Vowles says any movement on that front is now more likely to come during the summer break.
“I’ll go back to, he’s a world class driver,” he said of Sainz. “So the decision isn’t imminent. It’s not today that we need to make it. But what I’ve said all along is actually the timeline is less important to me. What’s more important is that whatever decision we come to or the driver comes to, it’s about forging a long-term relationship with each other — i.e. both see the journey we’re on and want that to be a part of their lives.
“I’m fairly sure you’ll see all this cleared up before we get to September. That’s the normal time. If you look at a normal routine, we’re actually just now going back into what is a normal schedule where August is spent doing contracts. But I’m pretty sure you’ll find it all cemented by then.”
Vowles says there are more options available to Williams beyond Sainz for next season, with multiple plans in place depending on how the driver market evolves.
“Fundamentally, yes [there’s a plan B],” he said. “Simple answer to it … I think we’re on about Y or Z by now, just to be clear. But no, there’s a lot of moving parts to it. More than the world will see, but it will all make sense, I think, once it fans out.”
This popular F1 driver is talking to PREMA Racing in the IndyCar Series for 2025. Which F1 driver could be making a return to America?
[autotag]PREMA Racing[/autotag] is set to join the NTT IndyCar Series for the 2025 season, but they haven’t announced any drivers yet. Alexander Rossi was one name linked to PREMA Racing as he leaves Arrow McLaren, but he said no contact has occurred. However, the new IndyCar Series organization has been talking to a popular driver in one of the world’s top racing series.
According to Motorsport.com, PREMA Racing team principal Rene Rosin has confirmed that he has talked to Formula 1 driver [autotag]Logan Sargeant[/autotag] about joining the team in the IndyCar Series next season. Sargeant currently drives for Williams in Formula 1, but his seat has been linked to several drivers. The 23-year-old driver is the only American in Formula 1.
Sargeant has experience with PREMA Racing after driving for the organization in Formula 3 in Europe during the 2020 season. The former PREMA Racing driver finished third in the point standings. Sargeant may not have a home in Formula 1 for the 2025 season, but a move to PREMA Racing would be great for everyone involved.
Logan Sargeant says he feels “extremely” close to being able to produce the level of performance required to keep his Williams seat, heading into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Williams team principal James Vowles has openly stated that …
Logan Sargeant says he feels “extremely” close to being able to produce the level of performance required to keep his Williams seat, heading into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Williams team principal James Vowles has openly stated that Sargeant’s future is at risk due to the form he has been showing, and that the team has multiple options for its driver lineup heading into 2025. Sargeant knows he is under pressure but has been told the door is not closed on his future, and believes he is not far off from delivering what is expected of him.
“Of course I want to stay,” Sargeant said. “I believe I can get to the level I need to be at, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Pushed on how close he feels, Sargeant replied: “Extremely.
“I think there’s been good moments. I think I’ve seen a huge step forward. It’s just unfortunate we’re in a tough position with the car at the moment, but I think it’s starting to move back in the right direction. We’ll see how we can do this weekend.”
Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Sargeant is regularly running an older specification of car as Williams tries to bring new parts as quickly as possible and provides them to teammate Alex Albon first, but the Floridian — who Vowles has suggested is set to start the Monaco weekend with a different spec again — says he doesn’t believe the approach is overly disruptive.
“I think I have a chance every weekend,” he said, “but at the same time, it’s tough when some upgrades are coming for him. But at the end of the day, the team knows the cross-car differences, so even if you don’t see it on track, it’s still able to be calculated off.
“I haven’t gotten to [the car spec] yet. There’s going to be moving parts through the weekend, so we’ll see where we end up. Honestly, I don’t even know where they’re starting with Alex, but for sure it’ll be important to have no issues on the Friday from me and Alex.
“I would be lying if I said it was ideal [to use a different spec from Friday to Saturday], but at the end of the day, we actually had a very similar Friday here last year, and ultimately we were still in a decent place come Saturday, even with components being changed. So I think we can manage it. We’re able to adapt and figure things out pretty quickly.”
Sargeant’s approach was well-received by the MSR crew. Rather than sequester himself inside the upper lounge in MSR’s transporter, he spent Monday outside with the team as they got set up for the test, and again on Tuesday, rarely more than a few feet away from the hub of activity around the car before and after runs.
