Credits: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
Earlier this week, Williams announced that they would part ways with Logan Sargeant ahead of next weekend’s Italian GP. F2 driver, Franco Colapinto is set to replace the American driver, who departs F1 after just a year and a half in the sport.
Sargeant’s F1 stint was largely unremarkable, plagued by multiple crashes that cost Williams millions of dollars in both 2023 and this year. While he became the American points-scorer in F1 after Michael Andretti, Sargeant was too inconsistent and did not score any points besides his P10 finish in Austin last year.
The departure of the Fort Lauderdale-born driver means there are no American drivers currently on the F1 grid. However, there are some promising talents from the USA in the F1 feeder categories and other disciplines as well, who could foray into the pinnacle of motorsport.
Jak Crawford
Crawford currently races in F2, after making his debut in the category last season with Hitech GP. The North Carolina native was also part of the Red Bull Academy. Last season, he only finished P13 in F2. 2024, however, has been a different story.
The 19-year-old currently drives for DAMS and has scored 100 points with four weekends left — 43 more than his 2023 haul. If Crawford can end this season strongly, his chances of getting an F1 seat can become stronger in the future.
Currently, a part of the Aston Martin Driver Development Program, Crawford also drove the AMR22 at the Red Bull Ring, twice in two months. While Aston Martin has worked out their drivers, other teams may keep an eye on Crawford’s progress if his stock rises in the next year or so.
Max Esterson
The name sounds like Max Verstappen, but he’s not quite the driver the Dutchman was at his age. In fact, at 21, Verstappen was already a multiple-time race winner in F1. Meanwhile, Esterson has some potential and is currently driving in F3.
The New York-born driver debuted in F3 midway through the 2023 championship. Thus, he did not score any points to end up 35th in the final standings.
This season has been a minor step up with Esterson scoring 11 points so far and is 21st in the standings, with only one round left in Monza. He doesn’t look like a promising candidate to make it to F1 unless his career sees a drastic turnaround in the next two years.
Colton Herta
Colton Herta’s name has been one of the most-discussed names in F1 away from the pool of F3 and F2 junior racers. Herta is an IndyCar star and wants to foray into F1.
In 2019, Herta won the IndyCar classic in Austin, becoming the youngest to ever win a race in the discipline. Over the years, his reputation grew and there was a sudden rise in interest from F1 teams reportedly wanting to sign Herta.
However, FIA’s super license rules for the IndyCar series not having enough weightage relative to F2 and F3 denied the 24-year-old to accumulate enough points for a super license.
Currently, Herta is P3 in the 2024 IndyCar championship, 67 points behind the leader Alex Palou. Perhaps, winning the title finally would make the FIA make an exemption for Herta’s super-license, something they previously refused to agree with, when he was in the shortlist for Red Bull.
