Logan Sargeant completes Williams seat fit ahead of debut season

Logan Sargeant has had his seat fitted ahead of his debut Formula 1 season with Williams in 2023.

The American is one of two rookies who will be on the grid next year following the announcement that he would be taking the place of Nicholas Latifi who left the team after three seasons.

Sargeant has already had a taste of life behind the wheel of an F1 car having conducted the post-season test in Abu Dhabi but the next time he hops into the Williams car, things should feel a little more comfortable after he had his seat moulded at the team’s Grove base.

The process works by having Sargeant sit in the car while foam is poured all around him. That mould is then sent to be scanned where it will be transformed into his seat.

Speaking following his seat fit, Sargeant said they had to do a couple of pours before they found the right fit and he was “looking forward to getting out there.”

“We had to do a couple of pours to get it right, I wasn’t completely happy with the first one,” Sargeant said.

“But I think the second one went really well, I was super comfortable, all square and in the position I want to be.

“Now it’ll go off to get scanned and hopefully she fits good when I get out on track. I’m looking forward to getting out there.”

Sargeant enters the sport not only as a rookie but with the pressure of being the first American driver on the F1 grid since Alexander Rossi in 2015.

Speaking to PlanetF1.com, Sargeant admitted there was an added pressure but was confident that if he matched his own high expectations then he would make his country proud.

“Obviously there’s pressure to represent and at the moment, I’m the only one in Formula 1 so it all lies on me,” Sargeant said on the red carpet of the Autosport Awards.

“But at the end of the day, my expectations of myself are high and I feel like as long as I fulfil those, I’m doing a good job.”

American fans must temper expectations of Logan Sargeant

Joining any Formula 1 team as a rookie is a daunting prospect, but no more so than when that team is struggling at the back of the grid.

Williams ended 2022 last in the standings with just eight points to their name, 27 fewer than the next lowest team, and barring any miraculous change, that is unlikely to look any different in 2023.

There are also plenty of unknowns for Williams heading into 2023, none more so than who will be in charge come the first race in Bahrain.

On a day of managerial changes, Jost Capito’s departure from Williams was perhaps the biggest shock of all with no real reason given as of yet as to why he decided to leave.

While those questions still remain, Williams find themselves as one of two teams currently without a team principal for the upcoming season and there has yet to be a frontrunner put forward.

Sargeant will be keeping a close eye on just who gets the nod as it will prove pivotal to his rookie season.

It was evident in Haas’ 2021 season that a poor car can prove to not be beneficial when it comes to cutting your teeth as a rookie, but Sargeant will be hoping the same fate does not happen to him as it did to Mick Schumacher.

Read more: Christian Horner on Brazil fallout and the Verstappen-Perez duo moving forward