The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Williams REPLACE Sargeant with Colapinto for rest of season! | EMERGENCY PODCAST

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

Ben and Sam have banded together for an emergency episode covering the breaking news that Logan Sargeant has been axed from Williams Racing, with Argentine F2 driver Franco Colapinto replacing him for the final 9 races of the year! Tune into our Italian GP Preview episode tomorrow as scheduled for more chat on the shock decision and how it could impact the upcoming race weekend... >>> Only a few tickets are left for our LIVE SHOW in Austin TX! CLICK HERE to buy now or for more info!

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Like, what are we doing here? It's always tasty, but it does feel a little bit wrong, doesn't it? Just feels a little bit naughty. Tasty bit wrong. That's the late-breaking podcast. Yeah, you come and get us. Take a bite. You know it's wrong, but I know you want to.

But what on earth would bring us to you on a Tuesday evening? The news that Logan Sargent is out. Logan Sargent is out. Williams have announced that Franco Colopinto is racing for the rest of the season. I mean, Sargent. Logan, we're like Logong. You'll see that in the real, folks. That's the second time I've delivered that thing.

We love it. Savage, wrecked, taken down. Yeah, I mean, come on. Poor Logie Bear, one championship point scored his entire Formula One career. One, he goes up against Alex Albon, who has picked up 31 points in their time together. Their head-to-head record is nothing nice to look at. Alex Albon out qualifying, out-fitting, rather. Logan Sargent, 31 times out of their 36 that they've raced on the same track at the same time.

It's not a pretty picture when it comes to Logan Sargent's career. And, of course, he only picks up that one championship point because of the fact that cars in front of him were disqualified. So he was moved forward. I've just realized something. Logan Sargent has a 0% scoring record when we're not at a track and he has a 100% scoring record when we are. It's us.

Damn. That late break and luck. It's all on us. Well, he should have stuck around to Cota. I'm sure it was his choice. And he would maybe score more points moving forward. So yeah, America, I imagine this is your darkest day in history because you no longer have a Formula One driver.

maybe not quite it might make a top 10,000 but I'm not quite sure it's quite at the top yes as mentioned it's Franco Colopinto who's in place of Logan sergeant for the rest of this year so he's got nine races to show what he can do he's currently sat sixth place in the F2 championship he's a member of the Williams Racing Driver Academy he made his FP1 debut earlier this year at the British Grand Prix. It's an interesting choice, Sam. They've gone with someone with absolutely no F1 experience. Really interesting.

Yeah, it's going to be the first Argentine to race since Gaston Mazakani in 2021. San Marino GP. I've done my research. It's definitely won 2021, but I'll let you have the name. Oh, my God, I got that wrong. I've absolutely mucked myself off. 2001. Good.

I got excited by the fact I had stats and I've ruined it. Yeah, so it's the first time in 23 years that we've had an Argentine on the grid. Hines Harrog Franklin, of course, before that was previously on the grid, famously, from Argentina. That's an inside joke. Yeah, new listeners are going to be like, he's German. We know. We know. But he's only got nine races to go.

And that, I feel, brings some cause for concern here, right? At the same time, Williams know that there's nothing to lose with this kid. If he gets in the car and absolutely excels, they know they've got a talent for the future. They know if Carlos Sikes, for example, gets two or three years down the road and goes, I'm moving on. or I'm retiring, or Alex Albon gets poached by someone else and they go, we need someone who's ready to go. This kid will have had his time. He'll have had half a season to bed himself in.

Equally, what worries me the most is how damaging it could be for his confidence, should it all fall the wrong way. Second race that he's going to be involved in. Mongs will be fine. Singapore, on the other hand, that is an absolute minefield to negotiate for only your second Grand Prix. In a car like Williams as well, which is going to be so embedding in that midfield area,

it's going to be a tough ask for him. But you look at the likes of Ollie Beerman when he came in at Saudi and he had that one chance to impress. It's an absolutely brilliant job. Now, I'm not sure that he is the absolute same level as Bearman, but there's no reason why he can't come in and really show people up.

You never know, this might be the door that opens for him to progress and actually have a full-blown Formula One career and not just be either a reserve driver or whatnot. But the thing I love the most, Williams are promoting from Whitting. Alping, take notes. It took you a long enough time to actually use one of your academy drivers. Williams would decide straight away. That's who we're getting a lot.

put in the car. I find the timing questionable. I don't understand the logic of the Belgian Grand Prix happens, of course, last race before the summer break. You have three weeks off. Logan Sargent comes back and crashes at Zanvall, of course, which was frustrating for the team because they had brought a significant upgrade to the car that weekend. And I think it did work. Of course, that is ignoring the fact that if he had qualified, he probably would have been disappointed. He probably would have been disqualified alongside Alex Albin and it wouldn't have actually mattered at all. But Williams and everyone who has an active following of F1 knows what Logan Sargent is and what Logan Sargent isn't. We've seen it for the last 18 months. So if you were shot, and I think you made a very

similar point on the weekend, Sam, you shouldn't be shocked at this point that Logan Sargent has crashed. He has crashed routinely throughout this year. He's underperformed versus what the car's capable of, routinely. So why have you waited for one race after the summer break to then make that decision? Remember as well when Carlos Sines, it wasn't that long ago that the Sines decision was made, in that same statement they said, we are looking forward to Logan Sargent and working with him for the rest of this season, which is now turned out not to be the case. I find it peculiar. The question I have to ask is, what are you losing or getting? gaining to the point where you have to replace him. By putting someone else in that seat,

what do you think you're set to gain? Do you think that this car is now so good that they need to get someone in the car, they have to take a risk on someone because points for both cars could become a regular occurrence. So they really think that, I don't know, six of these next nine Grand Prix Williams could score points with both cars and it could, you know, throw them, launch them into that fight with, I don't know, R.B. Haas and that lot. Is that realistic? Is that actually possible. I don't, I don't really see what they're gaining by putting this absolute rookie in, which could scarring for life and ruin his confidence in racing if it goes the wrong way and remove Logan Sargent, who is, okay, not performing, as has been mentioned,

but is a known quantity. And you signed up for this. You knew what you were guessing when you put pen to paper and you put him on for another season. I'm not really sure what you're aiming for these final nine races, Williams. So James Vowles in the same announcement where where Colopinto has been signed on for the rest of this season. He said the following, to replace a drive in 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 maximize every point-scoring opportunity in a remarkably tight midfield battle. So he references that upgrade that's just happened. And clearly he thinks that Colopinto at worst will provide the same amount of opportunity. And like you say, Logan Sargent has scored one point over the last 18 months. So it would be unrealistic to think he was going to expand on that tally by a lot.

I'm just, I'm curious as to why that was the way to go. Obviously, Colopinto, like you say, is a member of the Driver Academy. He's only 21 years old. He spent time in F2. But apart from that FP1 session early this year, he has no experience of driving an F1 car. We were going to talk about this on tomorrow's episode before this news came out. First thing I wrote down was whoever comes into a play sergeant needs F1 experience, needs recent F1 experience.

I thought Mick Schumacher was going to be the route. I thought it might be someone else. But I'm not quite sure because even in a best case scenario, let's say Colopinto does very well. Okay, maybe they gain eighth place ahead of Alpine. But we remember from last season when Williams were in a battle with Alpha Tauri for championship position, James Vowal said, even though they won that battle, we're not fighting for seventh.

We are fighting years in the future. The same should apply here regarding eighth and ninth place. Best case scenario, Colopinto does very well. You then have the Liam Lawson issue. Yeah, that part of the statement is what I take umbrage with. It's the immediacy. It's how he's presented this. The whole, we've got a great upgrade on the car.

Brilliant. Well done. You've taken a good step forward. And you've got a driver in Alex Albon that is going to be able to maximize this, I believe. But the point is, James Vowles, is not like Formula 1 N's forever in December and this is the end of, you know, all racing. So where you finish this year defines the future of, you know, the record books. You have stated publicly the current first couple of years are the first few steps of

building our foundations to create what should be somewhat of a Williams dynasty in terms of brilliant results down the line. It should be fighting for wings, fighting for podiums, much like what McLaren are now achieving. That's where he sees himself, a customer team that in. five years, will regularly be fighting inside the top five or six positions. Brilliant. I think that's a fantastic goal. So why have you completely gone against yourself by saying we have to maximize the now? We have to score points immediately. We have to beat the teams around us right now. For anything,

you're getting more development time to help progress your long-term goal by finishing exactly where you are. So I'm a bit confused by this almost fork in the road that James Voward is trying to go down both sides at the same time and get the best of both worlds. It's one or the other. Either you get the long-term success and you bill for that, which you've done by signing science and you're hiring all these individuals, or you get the now success. And in that case, why aren't you spending big time,

going all out for certain drivers? Why aren't you putting every upgrade possible on the car right now and hoping that you could beat the immediate team? It just doesn't really click. It doesn't really make sense to me. Yeah, and I sympathise in that I don't think there was a natural fit. I don't think there was a driver out there

that would have made absolute sense. Lawson for me. I think Lawson, that would have been a ridiculous decision for Williams. I think it would have been awful because... Really? Yeah, yeah. It's nothing to do with Lawson either.

It's just, again, why would you give one of your would-be rivals in a couple of years' time, that that's what they want anyway, whether it actually happens or not? But why would you give him six months' worth of experience to then, you know, potentially make him better in the future. I just don't think, again, he might have secured, I think he might have secured more points

than Logan Sargent did. There's a good chance of that. But again, if we're looking at long-term future, you're essentially providing a daycare. But their lives is a juxtaposition of what we're saying. They should be looking at long-term future. And therefore, Lawson should be a bad call. Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean. But James Fowler's words, they're no longer looking in the long-term future.

they're looking at the next nine Grand Prix. So therefore, Norseg should be a great fit for their team. And it doesn't make sense not to go for the best option that's available. Because as much as Colopinto might be a brilliant talent, he's not ready. He's not going to sit in this team and be absolutely mind-blowingly good. And I just don't understand what direction they want to move.

Either go that long-term distance and skip the start until the end of the season and then bring in science. Or say you're focusing on this season, this season is your priority and bring in the best possible driver available on the market, which I argue is Liam Norson right now. Yeah, I would agree with that. My opinion is that that short-term logic from James Vowles would be stupid. I don't see, I don't see why on earth. Yay, we beat Alpine by two points to finish eighth. Like, why does that? This is something they've been working towards since 2021, 2021, to like have this chance when the new

regulations come in in 2026. Every decision that they make should be with that in mind. And maybe the colopinto, the idea is that they can hold it off. Let's just say he does a good job. They are able to hold it off for a year. And, you know, Albin and Science, something goes sideways with one of those two. And then colopinto's there and ready. That's a very ideal scenario, though. And it might not go down that way.

Yeah, I think James Vowles is putting a lot of eggs in a certain idealistic basket that will come to fruition if a perfect timeline comes ahead. It's Formula One. Those timelines are never in place for a long time. There's so many moving parts. Look at what Lewis Hamilton did this year. I'm moving to Ferrari after I signed an extension with Mercedes. Boom.

No one expect to get. Toto Wolf has been thrown into an absolute nightmare of decisions because of that move. Does he really think that it's guaranteed that he's going to get, oh, I'll get three lovely years with science and album, no problems. And then when science hits whatever age he'll be, that's the end of his career. Colopinto will be there perfectly ready after his nine races experience. to sit in the formula. It doesn't work like that.

That's not how F1 works. What are you expecting, beg of Colopinto? Again, given it is just nine races, expectations have to be relatively low. It's identical to Lawson last year, pretty much. Sure, with a marginally worse car and with a driver who has less experience in F2.

Like Liam Lawson had more experience of that junior formulae before he came to F1. Colopinto has only, I think he might have done a couple of, like, reserve races in F2 last year, but this is his only full season that isn't even a full season yet in F2. He's done 16 races this year. And granted, he's done a fairly good job. He's sixth place in the championship, which is solid enough. But another thing that I always look out for when it comes to these junior formulas is exactly the age of the drivers that you're up against, because that matters

when you're going through the system. And Colopinso at the grand old age of 21, which will make us all feel very old. Every single driver ahead of him in the championship is younger than him. And the driver directly behind him is Andrea Kimmy Antonelli, who of course will likely be on the F1 grid next year and is three years younger than Colopinto. So I appreciate it. It's his first season of F2. So how he's adjusted there is impressive. But equally, you've always got to look out for, well, that 19 year old driver's doing better, like Bortoletto, for example, and that 20 year old's doing better. Isaac Hadjar who's leading the championship is 19. I understand F2 is a bit all over the place this year,

but that is something that needs to be factored in. I do agree. Completely agree with you. You got a development time, right? That age is pure development time. You think Kimmy Antingelli's got another three years in his pocket to develop. And if he's already at the level that Colina Pinto's at now, well, then where's he going to be in those three years time?

When Conopinto's in his mid-20s, God forbid someone could be in their mid-20s, an old man, in F1 terms these days. But that means Kimi Antingelli is literally 21. And he's still got another 15, 16 years of minimum of a Formula One career to go. So the older you get, it's like a ticking time bomb, you start to run out of time very quickly before it's all over. Before we finish up, just a little bit more on Logan Sargent. Obviously, this is where his Williams' F1 career comes to an end. And in all likelihood, this is where his F1 career comes to an end full stop.

But Williams have in their statement said that he remains part of the Williams family. we want to be able to support him in his future racing endeavours. What could that look like? It's got to be IndyCar. I feel like he would thrive there. It's a bit chaotic. It'll be a nice route for Williams to carry on in the IndyCar journey. Of course, they've already got a certain Jamie Chagwick,

who they are directly related with racing over there at the moment as well. This feels sensible. Unless he's getting an amazing test driver that brings great feedback, I don't know why they need to realistically keep him anywhere near the current formula. Yeah, for whatever reason, F1 has just not meshed with Logan Sargent. And sometimes it doesn't. Like his junior record was nothing crazy, but equally it was good. And it indicated that his F1 career was going to be a bit better than what it has been.

I believe deep down that Logan Sargent is a solid racing driver. And if he goes to Indy car, he will do it, he'll do a relatively good job. If you look at other similarly aged drivers who have come over maybe directly from F2, you know, they've been able to compete. I look at someone, this isn't from the F2 world, but you look at someone like Kyle Kirkwood in Indy car who's very similarly aged to Logan Sargent. I think they might have even come up together in sort of the very early formulae sort of carting days.

He's very good at Andretti. He does a good job. And I think Logan Sargent, wherever he goes. and I would be surprised if it was, I wouldn't be surprised if it was IndyCar. I think he can have a successful racing career. It's just that F1, it's tough, F1's tough. F1 would be hard.

Yeah, you look at Schwartzman, you look at Eilat. You know, there are a number of youngsters that have come through the junior formula period and they're competitive. They're holding their own. They're doing a good job. They're not looked at like the embarrassments of the series. They're able to forge themselves a racing career there.

We say it all the time. Formula One is not the be-all and ender. It's not the only thing that matters in racing. It doesn't mean you're not a good enough racing driver. He will go on to have a good racing career. It's just not going to be here. Yeah. We'll talk a bit more about the Sergeant News on tomorrow's main episode.

Of course, we'll talk about how it relates to the Italian Grand Prix very specifically. Of course, that will be our preview episode for that race. And of course, the most important thing, you'll get Harry Eid to take on it. And that's what we're all here for. Anything you want to say to the people before we head off? No, tiny amount of tickets left for the live show in Cota, and I mean tiny amount of tickets. Join the Patreon, get involved in the Discord,

and follow us on social media. Thanks for listening. And let us know your thoughts on this Sergeant out Colapinto in. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.