Working hard and racing on the edge: the moments that made Logan Sargeant

From a karting champion to making history last season, it’s a been a rollercoaster ride for Carlin’s Logan Sargeant.

We spoke with the American driver about his path to the Formula 2 grid and why the challenge of winning makes victory taste that much sweeter.

ENDING HIS KARTING JOURNEY ON A HIGH

“A moment for me in my career was winning the 2015 World Championship in karting. It was just a good way to sign off on the karting side and head into my formula career. Obviously, that helps you to get into a good team starting off in formulas. 

“I was still super young, so a bit more naïve, and I just sort of always expected to win. We all want to win but I think I didn't realise how hard it was to win and now I do, I know to the extent that you need to work to get those wins.

“It's really different in the way that you felt afterwards. I feel much more satisfied now because of how much hard work I put into it.”

MAKING HIS MARK IN MACAU

“Even though I didn't win, it was still probably one of the most successful weekends in my career, considering I was a rookie, and we were able to get on the podium.

“How it changed my career? I'm not 100% sure, but it definitely changed my life. The feeling that you get around there at those speeds is something that is really special and something I hope I get to do again at some point. 

“In terms of driver tracks, it's the top one out there. The amount of challenges it throws at you. When I went there, we were in the even quicker new F3 cars. If you lose focus for a fraction of a second, you’re in the wall. The amount of the adrenaline pump you get as well, you get out of the car and you're still shaking. I think it's so highly regarded because people know how difficult it is, especially as a rookie. It's one of those tracks that gets everyone on the edge of their seats. “

BRINGING HOME CHAROUZ’S FIRST F3 WIN

“Helping drive a struggling team forward, I think that massively changed my career course because that ultimately ended with me getting into the Williams Driver Academy and now here I am in F2, which I never knew was ever going to come. I'd say that's the biggest one, even though it's probably the least successful of the three. 

“I knew I was very capable of winning, as I had previously done the year before. So, for me, it was just about really helping them try to get the car as good as we possibly could in the short amount of time that we had together. 

"At the start of the year, I didn't feel like we were particularly close or quite quick enough, especially in the race runs to do that.

“Then to finally pull it off at the end of the year - late, but it counted, was a pretty special moment I think, not just for me but it was a long time coming for the whole team. It felt good to give the mechanics, the engineers something that they all deserved.”