Featured: Four American Drivers Who Can Really Reach F1

Formula 1 has an American owner, an American team and from next year even two American Grands Prix. Thanks to
Drive to survive the sport is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. However, there is still no American driver in the premier class. The last was Alexander Rossi, who drove a few races for the desperate Marussia in 2015. Before that it was Scott Speed, in 2007. It was high time for a new American driver, according to the F1 organization itself, who wants to make the sport even more popular in the United States. But who are the most suitable candidates? F1Maximum has listed four real American F1 contenders for you.

How come we don’t have an American F1 driver? The United States has a rich motorsport culture, as well as a huge population. Surely there will be an F1 driver among them? The problem is, Formula 1 is a very European sport. Officially, it is a world championship, but all the top class drivers had to prove themselves in the European junior categories to secure a place. For an American, moving to Europe and building a career is a big step if you can climb the IndyCar ranks in your own country as well. Japan also has the same problem, but due to the participation in F1 of Japanese car manufacturers such as Honda, this country has helped a large number of drivers to advance to the premier class. The United States never had that. Still, there are a number of drivers who can reach Formula 1 in the years to come.

Colton Herta: ready to step in?

For a moment, it looked like Colton Herta would already be making his F1 debut next year. Rumor had it that Andretti would take over the F1 team from Alfa Romeo. Herta, who drives for Andretti in IndyCar, would have been an obvious candidate for the last open seat in Formula 1. However, it seems that negotiations between Andretti and Sauber (the team behind Alfa) have failed, meaning that the odds de Herta for next year are almost gone.

Yet Colton, the son of former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta, is one of America’s most suitable F1 contenders. First of all, because he is quite simply a very good pilot. Herta became the youngest IndyCar race winner of all time (19 years and 83 days) in 2019 when he won the Circuit of the Americas. It was only his third race in this category. In the very competitive field of IndyCar, this is a unique achievement.

But what speaks for him the most is his age. Most of the best established American drivers are actually too old to build a long career in F1, while Herta is only 21 years old. This is the perfect age to make his Grand Prix debut. In addition, he has experience in European junior classes. In 2015, he took part in the British Formula 4 Championship, won by a certain Lando Norris. Herta had a somewhat anonymous start to the season, but was able to follow the dominant Norris towards the end. He finally finished third. That he has performed so well against the Briton, who in turn is one of the best drivers in F1, shows that Herta has talent to spare.

Colton Herta really only has one problem: is there room for him? It is extremely difficult for an outsider like Herta to break into F1. Unless you bring a bag of cash, teams are more likely to go for established drivers and their own junior talents. His best chance is that Andretti decides to take over a team other than Sauber, but which one? Williams is already sold and Haas will likely go to the Mazepins. They can also put together a team themselves, but it is very expensive. Either way, if Andretti is going to drive F1, Herta will be the first contender for a seat.

Logan Sargeant: the man who beat the great talent Piastri

When his cash flow dried up at the end of last year, Logan Sargeant’s Formula 1 dream seemed over. After all, you are not going anywhere in this sport without money. However, it seems the dream is alive again; a few weeks ago, the young American was admitted to the Williams junior program. Does Sargeant really have a chance of reaching the royal class?

For this, we must briefly highlight another driver: Oscar Piastri, the current leader of the Formula 2 championship. The Australian is on his way to his third junior title in three years, an unprecedented feat. Piastri is the junior talent of the moment. However, it turns out that Sargeant and Piastri often ran together in the same class. In Formula 3, they were even teammates. So we can compare Sargeant with the top talent of 2021 and see if he’s F1 material.

2017: British Formula 4. Sargeant is third, Piastri second. However, the pair are very balanced, finishing just 20.5 points apart.

2018: Formula Renault. Sargeant and Piastri are both rookies in an extremely solid field. Sargeant is having a great season, winning three races en route to 4th place in the championship and being the second best rookie in the field. Piastri is only eighth and does not win any race.

2019: Piastri remains in Formula Renault and narrowly wins the title. Sargeant moves on to Formula 3, having a difficult first year with the Carlin team. He is only 19th. However, his highly regarded teammates are not doing any better.

2020: Sargeant and Piastri are teammates at Prema, by far the best team in Formula 3. In qualifying, Sargeant is by far the fastest driver on the field, taking three poles in eight races, more than anyone. Piastri never qualifies higher than P3, but manages to stay in the title fight thanks to his consistent driving behavior. Before the final race, the American was just ahead of the championship, but he was hit in the first lap and lost the title to Piastri.

What this comparison mainly shows is how daring Sargeant and Piastri are towards each other. The only difference is that after 2020 Piastra had the money to drive Formula 2, and not Sargeant. However, the American clearly has the talent to reach Formula 1, just like his Australian rival.

Sargeant also has the advantage of racing in Europe from an early age. For years he has been able to measure himself against confirmed F1 talents, including Oscar Piastri. He is used to the culture of European racing, which is different from the American one – more serious, with more political games. In addition, he is now officially linked to an F1 team. This gives Sargeant the advantage of not being an underdog, unlike Colton Herta. There’s a good chance he’ll finally be able to drive Formula 2 next year; if he does well there, he could get an F1 seat at Williams. Given his talent, there’s a good chance we’ll one day see Logan Sargeant in Formula 1.

Jak Crawford: very young Red Bull talent

Logan Sargeant is no longer the only great American talent on the European scale. Jak Crawford was inducted into the Red Bull Racing junior squad by Helmut Marko last year and immediately went wild in the highly competitive German and Italian F4 championships. The young American showed there that he can compete with some of the best junior riders Europe has to offer at this level.

After these successes, Crawford immediately made the leap to Formula 3, where he was also the youngest driver on the field. Marko just likes to get his drivers up the F1 ranks as quickly as possible. In all fairness, Crawford has not had an easy season. The switch from Formula 4 to Formula 3 is very important, and drivers often struggle with that. Cars are much faster and more difficult to drive. The F3 field also includes up to 30 cars, while only the first 10 receive points. Crawford has scored just eight points in 21 races, en route to a modest P13 in the championship.

Yet the American’s F3 season is more promising than it looks on paper. The level of the peloton is high and Crawford has shown on several occasions that he really has speed, despite his inexperience. He’s only 16, so he has plenty of time to learn and get faster. He is expected to stay in F3 next year, becoming one of the biggest contenders for the title. Then Crawford can prove if he’s fit for Formula 1. One thing really stands in his way: he has to be better than the other talents in the Red Bull junior program, who are chasing the same F1 seats. It’s no easy task, but Crawford is a proven talent. He’s definitely a suitor.

Ugo Ugochukuwu: In the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton?

The day when we will see Ugo Ugochukuwu in Formula 1 is still far away. The talent of the Nigerian-American kart is only 14 years old. However, we can already say that it is a rider to watch. Ugochukuwu’s story is not unlike that of Lewis Hamilton: a talented (then) 13-year-old driver who is long-term retained by the McLaren team. So you’ve won the attention of the racing world.

Ugochukwu is also included in the Young Driver Program
from McLaren, which works differently from, say, Red Bull. Marko sometimes has up to ten pilots under his wing, whose positions in the junior team depend heavily on their performance. The Austrian does not hesitate to withdraw the least successful drivers from his program. McLaren would prefer to choose to capture and keep top talent for the long haul. For example, Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries were assisted by the Woking team.

Even for McLaren, however, it’s rare for a driver to join his team at the age of 13. The last (and only) time before was – indeed – with Hamilton, and it became by far the biggest achievement in McLaren’s junior program. So McLaren clearly sees something big in Ugochukwu.

This doesn’t mean that he will definitely reach Formula 1. His performance in karting is excellent, but there are also a lot of top kart drivers who cannot realize their potential in formula cars. It’s really too early to say what Ugochukwu’s career will be like, but he’s definitely one to watch in the future. Ugo Ugochukwu is arguably an American Formula 1 driver’s best shot in the future.