F2 Does Not Prepare Drivers For F1 As Much As It Should Sargeant Suggests

Saturday, 06 January 2024 at 22:00

Logan Sargeant, who just finished his rookie season in Formula One, explained why it is so challenging for rookies to drive an F1 car.

Formula 2 is currently the closest thing rookie drivers can experience in order to prepare themselves for F1. F2 has been part of the journey for almost all F1 drivers that we will see on the grid in 2024.

While it is the closest thing to Formula One, Williams driver Logan Sargeant explained F2 is still nowhere near the pinnacle of motorsports either in terms of speed or complexity. He told motorsport.com:

"It's definitely helped 100%. I think F2 is a great series that has great drivers, but I think the gap between the cars is probably a bit too big for what it should be."

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It is a goal in many racing drivers' careers to get a chance to drive a Formula 1 car and every single one that got the chance to do it said there is no other series that can replicate the intensity of F1 cars.

One of the examples that illustrates the difference quite nicely is George Russell's "It's raining moment" during one of the Grand Prix races in 2023.

What happened was that Russell saw his sweat on the visor of his helmet and mistook it for rain drops. The breaks on F1 cars are so strong that drops of sweat fly away from the driver's face under braking.

That is something that would happen in no other series but F1. Sargeant continued explaining that there in F1 car requires a lot more adjusting to perform at optimal level.

"There are just so many more fine details in F1, and there's just so many more things that add into performance than just getting in the car and driving like you do in F2."

The American rookie had a tough first season as he was outperformed by his experienced teammate Alex Albon (who scored almost all of Williams's points) in every single one of the qualifications. It exposed there is still a lot for the 23-year-old to learn. He added when describing F2:

"And then yeah, the cars, just in my opinion, are not quite quick enough."