Williams replace Logan Sargeant with Franco Colapinto for remainder of season
Williams has announced that Logan Sargeant has been replaced by Franco Colapinto for the remaining nine races. Sargeant who made his debut last year had already been replaced by Carlos Sainz for 2025, but it appears that his crash in FP3 at Zandvoort has led to the team deciding to replace him sooner.
The American has struggled to make progress during his second season and has only scored one point in his career compared to thirty-one by teammate Alex Albon. Colapinto is a member of the team’s driver academy and made his practice debut at Silverstone.
The latest bruising accident that wrecked the latest upgrade package left team boss James Vowles out of patience with him. Vowles held discussions with rival team bosses over the Zandvoort weekend to evaluate candidates to replace Sargeant. Early options included Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher and Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson, with both their bosses saying they were open to suitable offers.
This season he has taken a race win at Imola, as well as podiums in Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring and has scored points on seven other occasions. He said, “It is an honour to be making my Formula 1 debut with Williams – this is what dreams are made of. The team has such amazing history and a mission to get back to the front which I can’t wait to be part of.”
“Coming into F1 mid-season will be an enormous learning curve but I am up for the challenge, and I’m fully focused on working as hard as I can with Alex and the team to make it a success.”
James Vowles said: “To replace a driver mid-season is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we believe this gives Williams the best chance to compete for points over the remainder of the season. We have just brought a large upgrade to the car and need to maximise every points-scoring opportunity in a remarkably tight midfield battle.”
“We also believe in investing in our young drivers in the Williams Racing Driver Academy, and Franco is getting a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate what he is capable of across the final nine rounds of the season.”
Colapinto has shown strong potential, in his two years in F3, he won four sprint races and moved into F2 this season. Despite struggling early on with the new car and following a test, from Imola onwards managed to score podiums in Speilberg and Barcelona.