Why is the U.S. about to lose its leading F1 hopeful?
Because no one in America cares about millionaire south american racers....in another country......
but formula one is all they've got over there........so they have to live with it.
The top racing in America happens to be stock cars, NASCAR on down to the cheapest dirt track jalopy in almost every US county fairgrounds dirt track
Americans like something that looks like a car and uses a street engine, so to speak, instead of something made in another country that a person cannot even get close to buying and for sure will never get into a street driven car.
'Cuz Americans don't give a crap about what foreigners do when we have plenty of driving talent in this country.... and it's American fender to fender stuff.......it's not qualifiying up front and blocking for the rest of the race.
Why go through the hoops and the BS to "get permission" from foreigners to submit to them and their "rules" and get treated like crap in the process?
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See more in post #3 of this thread.
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Chris Medland | February 10, 2021 12:48 PM
There are a huge number of talented American drivers in high levels of motorsport, but in terms of ones appearing close to racing in Formula 1, the conveyor belt still isn’t delivering.
All of the drivers currently on the F1 grid came through a European finishing school, with those from across the northern and southern borders — Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Sergio Perez — all graduating from either Formula 3 or Formula 2/GP2.
So for most Americans dreaming of becoming an F1 driver, a move to Europe is crucial. And that’s what Floridian Logan Sargeant did; finishing third in British Formula 4 before progressing through Formula Renault to F3, where last year he missed out on the title by just four points.
But instead of following six of last year’s F3 field — four of whom he finished ahead of — in graduating to F2, Sargeant is back in the U.S. and looking at sports cars or Indy Lights to keep his career moving, even though it likely means the end of his F1 hopes.
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“The whole Indy thing, I think, is actually growing,” he tells RACER. “I’ve heard rumors of an American going from IndyCar to F1 — I don’t know how true that is or if it’s just rumors — but realistically once you’re out of the whole F2 scene it becomes a lot, lot more difficult.”
Lack of the necessary budget has forced Logan Sargeant to rethink his career path, and the same issue is becoming ever more problematic up and down the European single-seater ladder. Joe Portlock/Motorsport Images
And this isn’t just a simple case of it being disappointing that an American driver isn’t moving closer to F1. Sargeant’s 2020 teammate and eventual F3 champion Oscar Piastri endorses his potential.
“He definitely deserves a seat in F2 this year,” Piastri says. “He almost copped a bit of unnecessary flak last season — he only came third by four points in the end, and had that last race gone a little bit differently, he could have very easily been champion.
“So it’s pretty sad. It makes me aware of how lucky I am, how privileged I am to be in the position I am and it does spur me on a little bit to go forwards. But I think regardless of whether or not Logan had announced that, I would have been spurred on to try and get to F1 anyway.”
And it’s not just Piastri who was impressed. As team principal of Prema, Rene Rosin has seen numerous exciting talents come through his ranks — most recently the likes of Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Mick Schumacher — and the Italian doesn’t think Sargeant’s path should be changing at this point.
“We tried to convince him to stay with us in Formula 3 for another season,” Rosin reveals. “Of course, after last season I understood his point of view as well that another season in Formula 3 was perhaps a bit too much, because he missed out on the championship at the last race.
“I think either him or Oscar would have been a great champion because both of them had done a fantastic season. It’s a pity for Logan to finish third, because between the penalties and accidents in Monza and Mugello, it cost him at least P2. I was a bit aware of the situation of some budget issues; on the other hand, from Logan’s side, I think if he had the chance to be in a top team he would have taken it.
“Honestly, he maybe wasn’t the best driver in terms of race pace, but over a single lap he has done an amazing job. It’s a real pity because he’s a great guy to work with, he’s a very good driver and I hope these financial problems can be solved as soon as possible and then he can get back to racing in Europe, America or whatever he can. Because he really deserves a chance.”
The problem is, a seat in a top team in Formula 2 this year costs in the region of $2.5-3 million. With those all taken, it’s a big ask to find only slightly less for a drive that’s unlikely to give you a regular chance of winning, even in a spec series. And Sargeant says spending a further $1.5-2 million to stay in F3 didn’t offer any realistic improvement to his prospects.
“That was always going to be a tough one for me because obviously it was a fair fight all the way to the end but I definitely felt like I had the potential to have won it (the F3 title),” the 20-year-old admits. “So that was always going to be a tough one to swallow for me and I wasn’t really feeling doing it for another year.
“F3 is crazy hectic, 30 cars on the grid and it just wasn’t really what I was looking to do again. I was looking to move forward and get a little bit further in my career.
“I also looked at the fact that even F3’s an expensive ride, it’s not cheap at all. I was thinking, ‘Say I went and won in 2021, where’s that going to leave me?’ If I’d won in 2020 I feel like I’d be pretty much in the same position right now, not having the budget to stay in the top teams in F2.”
The rapidly escalating price structure makes gambling on success in “crazy hectic” European F3 that much riskier for up-and-comers like Sargeant (here leading at Barcelona). Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Sargeant isn’t alone in being unable to afford the expense of F2, with famous surnames such as Pedro Piquet and Giuliano Alesi similarly looking elsewhere in recent months. Racing will always be an expensive sport, but Rosin concedes the money needed by junior drivers trying to prove themselves is unsustainable, even after F2 CEO Bruno Michel oversaw a calendar overhaul that will include more races taking place on fewer weekends in an attempt to cut costs.
“Honestly the cost of the championship now is quite high, so we need to figure out a way to get the price reduced,” Rosin says. “Because when you’re starting off speaking of €2-2.1 million ($2.4-2.6m) for Formula 2, and then €1.2 million ($1.5m) for Formula 3, it’s quite a huge amount of money. So the cost reduction is a valid point to be addressed.
“The promoter tried to make some efforts at cost reduction but at the moment I don’t see any reduction, apart from some small amounts that Bruno has cut out. We need to wait a bit more until we get all the final checks and see what is really the advantage of doing seven or eight rounds. But cost reduction is a valid problem that needs to be addressed. We must remember, up until three years ago the season was costing €1.5m, €1.6m ($1.8-1.9m). If you had €1.7m ($2m) then you really had a good budget.”