Following Logan Sargeant’s affirmation, there is only one rookie driver who nonetheless wants a automobile quantity for the 2023 Method 1 season.
Logan Sargeant was formally introduced because the twentieth and remaining driver on the 2023 Method 1 grid after securing his Tremendous License, with Williams confirming him because the substitute for Nicholas Latifi alongside Alexander Albon.
Williams had beforehand introduced that the 21-year-old Floridian, who is about to develop into the primary full-time American driver since 2006 and the primary American driver on the grid in any respect since 2015, would take Latifi’s seat so long as he earned his Tremendous License, which was not a assure heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
However Sargeant did what he wanted to do, and he has since confirmed that he plans to race with the No. 2 on his Mercedes-powered entry.
The No. 2 was most lately utilized in Method 1 by Stoffel Vandoorne in 2018. When a driver not competes in Method 1, his quantity is up for grabs if he has not competed for 2 total consecutive seasons. Vandoorne hasn’t competed in any of the final 4.
Sargeant had reportedly needed to make use of the No. 3, however that quantity continues to be tied to Daniel Ricciardo despite the fact that Ricciardo misplaced his journey with McLaren after the 2022 season. The earliest season through which that quantity would develop into accessible is 2025, and that’s assuming Ricciardo doesn’t compete in any respect in 2023 or 2024.
Sargeant’s affirmation means that there’s only one rookie driver nonetheless in want of a quantity for subsequent yr, and that’s AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries.
The opposite two drivers set to enter Method 1 subsequent yr are Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg. Piastri, a rookie, is about to drive for McLaren as Ricciardo’s substitute and use the No. 81.
Hulkenberg is a returning driver, having final competed full-time in 2019. As a result of he made 4 begins in 2020 and 2022, his No. 27 was by no means accessible for anyone else to pick out, and he’s set to make use of it once more when he joins Haas as Mick Schumacher’s substitute in 2023.
The 16 drivers from 2022 who’re set to return to the grid in 2023, together with the 2 who’ve switched groups (Fernando Alonso from Alpine to Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri to Alpine), are all set to make use of the identical numbers.
As for de Vries, who is about to interchange Gasly, he has but to substantiate which quantity he plans to make use of in 2023. He used the No. 45 for his Method 1 debut with Williams at Monza this previous season, when he crammed in for Albon amid his bout with appendicitis. He used the No. 41 throughout post-season testing with AlphaTauri in Abu Dhabi.
