Sargeant began his motorsport career in karting in 2008. In his first year, he competed in the Rotax Micro Max class in regional and national championships, finishing third in the Florida Winter Tour and the Rotax Max Challenge USA. Sargeant later moved to Europe, where he competed in the ROK Cup International Final, Trofeo Delle Industrie, and WSK Euro Series.[2]
In the winter of 2016-17, Sargeant made his single-seater car racing debut in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Team Motopark. Although he did not win any races, he was on the podium in 15 of the 18 official races and finished second in the standings behind teammate Jonathan Aberdein.[6] In 2017, Sargeant joined Carlin to compete in the F4 British Championship.[7] He achieved 10 podium finishes in 30 races, including two race wins at Rockingham and Silverstone, and finished third in the standings behind Oscar Piastri and teammate and dominant champion Jamie Caroline.[8]
At the end of 2019 Sargeant competed in the Macau Grand Prix. He placed 10th in qualifying, ahead of teammates Drugovich and Dan Ticktum.[14] In the qualification race, he was involved in an opening-lap crash with Arjun Maini that eliminated Maini, Jake Hughes and Enaam Ahmed from the race. Sargeant himself avoided damage and went on to finish sixth.[15] He finished the main race on the podium in third, behind Jüri Vips and race winner Richard Verschoor.
2020
For the 2020 season, Sargeant switched to reigning Teams' Champions Prema Racing, partnering Frederik Vesti and former British F4 rival Oscar Piastri.[16] He took two podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring and another podium from pole position in the first Silverstone feature race. He scored his first FIA F3 victory in the second feature race at Silverstone, again from pole position, which promoted him into the lead of the championship.[17] He claimed a third consecutive pole at Barcelona and finished third in the feature race, retaining the championship lead after round six of nine.
Sargeant's next win came in the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, where he won the sprint race and extended his points advantage over Piastri.[18] However, collisions with Clément Novalak and teammate Vesti at Monza Circuit left him with no points in either race and a grid penalty for the final round. Sixth place in the Mugello feature race left him tied with Piastri on 160 points going into the final race, but contact with Lirim Zendeli on the opening lap eliminated him from contention as Piastri went on to claim the title. Championship outsider Théo Pourchaire finished on the podium, leaving Sargeant third in the standings, one point behind Pourchaire and four behind Piastri.[19]
In February 2021 Sargeant ruled out a move to the FIA Formula 2 Championship despite performing a test with Campos Racing, citing financial reasons, and stated his interest in pursuing options in sports car racing or Indy Lights.[20] In April, he took part in a pre-season F3 test with Charouz Racing System, who had finished last in the Teams' Championship the previous year.[21] This was followed by an announcement of his return to the championship for 2021 with Charouz shortly before the first race of the season.[22]
Sargeant scored points in three of the first four races and finished third in the first race at the Red Bull Ring, but lost the podium position post-race due to a penalty for track limit violations.[23] His first podium of the season, and the first ever podium in the series for Charouz, came in the first race at the Hungaroring. More podiums came at Spa-Francorchamps and at Zandvoort. He took his only win of the season at Sochi Autodrom, thus giving Charouz their first victory in Formula 3. Sargeant finished the campaign seventh in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 102 of the team's 127 points.
After receiving the backing of Formula One team Williams, Sargeant made his Formula 2 debut in the penultimate round of the 2021 season with HWA Racelab.[24] He finished the first race in 16th, retired in the second sprint due to a mechanical problem, and ended the aborted feature race in 14th position.
In December 2021, it was announced that Sargeant would join Carlin, the team he had previously raced for in F4 and F3, to contest the 2022 Formula 2 Championship alongside Liam Lawson.[25] He qualified fourth at the opening round in Bahrain and scored points in both races, but a crash in qualifying at the next round in Jeddah forced him to start 18th and he failed to score. He claimed his first podium in the Barcelona sprint race and his first feature race podium at Baku, finishing second. At Silverstone, he achieved his first pole position in the series and converted it into his first victory. At the Red Bull Ring, he qualified third and finished the feature race fourth. However, the disqualification of race winner Richard Verschoor and time penalties for Jehan Daruvala and Roberto Merhi meant that Sargeant inherited his second consecutive feature race win.[26] This result promoted him to second place in the championship, with 115 points to teammate Lawson's 60.[27]
That victory would ultimately be his final podium finish of the season. He achieved another pole position at the next round at Circuit Paul Ricard, but retired from the feature race after stalling in the pits. More retirements came in the sprint races at the Hungaroring and at Spa-Francorchamps, both due to accidents. Sargeant's feature races at the following two rounds, Zandvoort and Monza, both ended in first-lap crashes. At the end of the season, Sargeant was fourth in the Drivers' Championship on 148 points, one point behind Lawson. Sargeant achieved two wins, two pole positions and four total podiums over the year.
Sargeant made his Formula One practice debut with Williams at the 2022 United States Grand Prix,[32] making him the first American driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend session since Alexander Rossi in 2015. Williams' team principal Jost Capito stated that his debut "was a pleasure and pressure for Sargeant".[33] Capito also confirmed that Sargeant would drive for Williams in 2023, replacing the outgoing Nicholas Latifi, provided he obtained the necessary FIA Super Licence points by finishing at least fifth (or sixth without any penalty points) in his Formula 2 campaign.[34] Capito also commented that Sargeant's American nationality was "not the initiation for the decision" to promote him.[35]
Sargeant drove the FW44 in further practice sessions at the Mexico City, São Paulo and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.[36][37] He achieved the required Super Licence points at the Abu Dhabi weekend and was officially announced as a 2023 Williams race driver the following day.[38] He chose 2 as his permanent driver number, last used by Stoffel Vandoorne in 2018.[39]
Sargeant qualified 16th for the season opener at Bahrain International Circuit, setting an identical lap time to McLaren's Lando Norris but missing out on advancing to the second qualifying session (Q2) as Norris set his time first.[40] He finished the race twelfth, two places behind teammate Alex Albon. After the race, Sargeant commented that he was "very, very happy" with his debut race but was disappointed to miss out on Q2.[41] He failed to set a meaningful lap time in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He subsequently started from last place and went on to finish 16th.[42] He retired from the Australian Grand Prix after colliding with Nyck de Vries at the third restart and was classified 16th. He reached Q2 for the first time at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but crashed during the sprint shootout, forcing him to withdraw from the sprint due to car damage.[43] He qualified and finished 20th at both the Miami and Spanish Grands Prix,[44] and then qualified 19th and retired with an oil leak at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Better results came at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he was classified 13th despite starting 18th and receiving penalties for track limits violations, and at the British Grand Prix, where he reached Q2 and finished 11th, four seconds behind the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. He then qualified last at the Hungarian Grand Prix and eventually retired after spinning out.[45] He crashed in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix in rainy conditions and went on to finish the race 17th.[46] He reached Q3 for the first time at the Dutch Grand Prix, but crashed in the final session. He crashed again during the race, which the team blamed on a hydraulics issue.[47] He advanced to Q2 again at the Italian Grand Prix and finished 13th despite receiving a penalty for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas.[48] He avoided a grid penalty for impeding in qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix, which the FIA later accepted was an error.[49] Early in the race, Sargeant hit the wall and damaged his front wing. He went on to finish 14th.
He crashed heavily in qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix and was forced to start the race from the pit lane. He received a penalty for colliding with Bottas in the early laps, with the damage ultimately causing both cars to retire from the race. He retired from the Qatar Grand Prix sprint after spinning into the gravel, and later withdrew from the race after 40 laps due to heat stroke and dehydration, symptoms experienced by other drivers due to the extreme weather conditions.[50][51] He started 16th at the United States Grand Prix but improved to finish 12th. He was later promoted to 10th after the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, making Sargeant the first American driver to score a point in Formula One since Michael Andretti at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix. He failed to set a qualifying time at the Mexico City Grand Prix and later retired from the race with a fuel pump issue. He then improved from 19th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix to 11th at the finish. He achieved his career best qualifying performance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, starting sixth, but both Williams drivers dropped outside the points at the finish. He again failed to set a qualifying time at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as his attempts were deleted for violating track limits. This meant that he was out-qualified by teammate Albon at all of the season's twenty-two races.[52]
Sargeant finished the season 21st in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring one point to Albon's tally of 27. Sky Sports described his debut season as "hugely challenging".[53]The Race and RaceFans both ranked him 21st of 22 drivers based on performance, although the former commented that he "showed flashes of genuine speed".[54][55]
In December 2023, Williams announced that Sargeant had been re-signed and would drive for the team in 2024 alongside Albon.[56] At the season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit, he qualified 18th, improved to 14th by the second lap, but finished 20th following a steering wheel issue.[57] He then gained five places at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, starting 19th and finishing 14th. He withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix to allow teammate Albon to use his chassis; Albon had crashed heavily in practice and the team were unable to repair his car. Sargeant described the situation as the "hardest moment" of his career.[58]
Sargeant returned at the Japanese Grand Prix but crashed in practice.[59] During the race, he ran as high as 11th place but went on to finish 17th after locking up and going into the gravel. He described the Chinese Grand Prix as a "massive struggle" after starting from the pit lane and finishing 17th with a penalty for a safety car infringement.[60] He gained eight places to finish 10th in the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix, but was forced into retirement from the main race after a collision with Kevin Magnussen. Sargeant made his first Q2 appearance of 2024 at the Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying 13th,[61] but retired from the race after spinning out.[62] After finishing last of the running drivers at both the Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix,[63][64] an improved showing at the British Grand Prix saw him qualify 12th and finish 11th,[65][66] his best qualifying and race results of the season.
On the day after the Belgian Grand Prix, Williams announced that Sargeant would be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. at the team for the 2025 season.[67] Amid speculation that Sargeant's position at Williams was at imminent risk, Williams team principal James Vowles commented that the team was "continually evaluating it" and that the sport was a "meritocracy",[68] whilst Sargeant remarked that he would "fight no matter what the situation is".[69] Formula One returned from its summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix, at which Sargeant crashed heavily in practice,[70] forcing him to miss qualifying as the car could not be repaired in time. He would finish the race in 16th place. Two days after the race, Sargeant was released from the team with immediate effect and was replaced by Formula 2 driver Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the 2024 season. Vowles stated that the decision "gives Williams the best chance to compete for points" over the remaining nine races,[71] and later commented that keeping Sargeant for the second half would be "almost unfair."[72]
† Driver did not finish the race, but were classified, as they completed more than 90% of the race distance. ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
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