It’s fair to say that the Driver Market heading into the 2024 Formula 1 Season hasn’t been particularly exciting as everybody has stuck with their current drivers. However, one seat remains, and that one seat happens to be at Williams alongside Alex Albon. Because of this, today’s debate is “Who Should Williams Sign to Drive Alongside Alex Albon in 2024?” I will go over a bunch of names/candidates in this article before I give my Final Verdict at the end. Now, let’s start with a man currently already driving for Williams in Formula 1.
Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant is a 22-year-old American racing driver who currently drives for Williams in Formula 1. Logan previously finished second in the 2016/17 Formula 4 UAE Championship and he also finished third in both the 2017 F4 British Championship and the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship. It’s worth mentioning that Logan was only 4 points off winning the Formula 3 Title back in 2020 and being beaten by Oscar Piastri and Theo Pourchaire is hardly a bad thing. Logan was also pretty good in his one and only year in F2. So far in 2023, Logan is 20th in the Championship in his first season in Formula 1, and it’s fair to say that it hasn’t been going particularly well. Sargeant definitely needs a couple of really positive performances in the next few rounds if he’s going to keep hold of his place on the Formula 1 Grid.
Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson is a 21-year-old New Zealand racing driver who currently drives for Team Mugen in Super Formula and he is also acting as a substitute driver for Alpha Tauri in Formula 1. Liam previously won both the 2016/17 NZ F1600 Championship Series (he won 14 of the 15 races) and the 2019 Toyota Racing Series and he’s also finished second in the Championship in multiple categories including Australian and ADAC Formula 4 as well as DTM. So far in 2023, Liam is second in Super Formula with two races to go and he’s also 19th in the Formula 1 Drivers Championship with 2 points to his name. Lawson’s been driving really well in Formula 1 since he stepped in at Zandvoort and it’s fair to say that a lot of people felt like Lawson deserved a full-time seat with Alpha Tauri in 2024.
Felipe Drugovich
Felipe Drugovich is a 23-year-old Brazilian racing driver who currently operates as the Test and Reserve Driver for Aston Martin (Formula 1 Team). Felipe previously won the 2017/18 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship as well as the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Drugovich absolutely smashed the field in all of those Championships and it’s also worth mentioning that he finished third in the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship (he was only 9 points off the title). So far in 2023, Felipe has sat on the sidelines and helped Aston Martin out in Formula 1, and he’s also driven for Maserati MSG in a couple of Formula E Rookie Tests. Drugovich is a talented racing driver and there’s no doubt that he deserves to be racing on track again in 2024.
Frederik Vesti
Frederik Vesti is a 21-year-old Danish racing driver who currently drives for Prema Racing in FIA Formula 2. Frederik previously became the inaugural Formula Regional European Champion back in 2019 (in pretty dominant fashion) and he also finished second in the 2017 F4 Danish Championship (he did miss six races though). So far in 2023, Frederik is second in Formula 2 heading into the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi and he’s won 5 races along the way. It’s also worth mentioning that Vesti is a part of the Mercedes Junior Team and that’s quite important given that Mercedes have a strong partnership with Williams.
Jack Doohan
Jack Doohan is a 20-year-old Australian racing driver who currently drives for Invicta Virtuosi Racing in FIA Formula 2. Jack has never won a Championship before, but he did come second in both the 2019 and 2020 F3 Asian Championships before he finished second in the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship. So far in 2023, Jack is 4th in Formula 2 with 2 wins to his name. Doohan’s currently a member of the Alpine Academy and he may have to look elsewhere for a seat in Formula 1 as Alpine look set with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly for the foreseeable future.
Jamie Chadwick
Jamie Chadwick is a 25-year-old British racing driver who is currently a member of the Williams Driver Academy. Jamie previously won the 2018/19 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship and she’s also a 3-time W Series Champion. So far in 2023, Jamie finished 12th in Indy NXT with a best-placed finish of 6th, and she’s also spent time as a Development Driver for Williams. Whilst Chadwick might be a long shot for a Williams seat in 2024, it would certainly be cool.
Final Verdict
After going over all 6 drivers, I firmly believe that Williams should sign Liam Lawson to drive alongside Alex Albon in the 2024 Formula 1 Season. Liam was already seen as a quick driver, but his stock has risen significantly since impressing for Alpha Tauri this past month. I don’t feel like either Jack Doohan or Jamie Chadwick are the right options for Williams in 2024 whilst Frederik Vesti probably needs to win the Formula 2 title to really stand a chance. Whilst Logan Sargeant might be at Williams right now, I can’t see how he would warrant another year at the team unless contract issues result in him being their only other option. Felipe Drugovich is probably the driver that runs Liam Lawson the closest for me, but Williams need a driver alongside Albon that can guarantee results from the off and I think Lawson does that.
Who Should Williams Sign to Drive Alongside Alex Albon in 2024? Please let me know in the Poll Below!
Who Should Williams Sign to Drive Alongside Alex Albon in 2024?
0%Logan Sargeant
0%Liam Lawson
0%Felipe Drugovich
0%Frederik Vesti
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