Jost Capito declared "the time is right" for Logan Sargeant to make his mark with Williams in Formula 1 as he explained the wisdom behind the team's 2023 driver pairing.
Next year Sargeant will become the first American driver in 15 years to hold an F1 race seat. He will spend his rookie season in the sport as team-mate to Alexander Albon, who has a year with the team under his belt and several more in F1 overall.
The decision to promote the Florida native came at the expense of a fellow North American. Nicholas Latifi, of Canada, spent three seasons with the team but did not do enough to convince those in charge that he was deserving of a contract extension.
Capito will not be in charge of the team next year – his departure was confirmed by Williams on Monday. But before that was announced he explained to Mirror Sport his thinking behind the decision to partner Sargeant with Albon for 2023.
"We're very excited about the pairing, because Alex now has a lot of experience," he said in an interview at the Autosport Awards. "He likes to work with young drivers as well – he's keen to take the leadership on.
"He had the lead this year and he really grew in that role. He is very familiar with the team now, the team supports him and now is the right time to take a rookie on and give Logan a learning year in '23."
During the same conversation, Capito gave his thoughts on Williams Driver Academy member Jamie Chadwick and her future. The triple W Series champion recently announced that she will move to the US to compete in IndyNXT in 2023, as part of her push to hopefully one day get a chance in F1.
Capito explained that move does not affect her affiliation with Williams, and vowed that the team will continue to help her to achieve her ambition. The German added: "It's great to see Jamie moving to the US and taking on something new. She is moving on to a series with really high competition, and we will see how she gets on with that.
"We're really excited for her – she has our support, so let's see. She has to go up the ranks and her dream is still to get into Formula 1. As long as she keeps improving she has our full support as well, so let's see where she can end up."
