New American Formula 1 star Logan Sargeant says first drive will be ‘one of the saddest days of my life’ as it means he’ll miss the Super Bowl

Formula 1’s newest driver, American Logan Sargeant, has revealed why his first test will be one of the saddest days of his life.

The 22-year-old Williams star is gearing up for his first season in the top tier, having finished fourth in the Formula 2 world championship last year, in his first full campaign.

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Florida-born Sargeant will be F1’s first American driver since 2015, with the sport booming in the US, where it will hold three races next year, in Texas, Miami and Las Vegas.

The youngster is yet to enter an F1 car, and will have limited time to get to grips with his new machinery with just one pre-season test this year, down from the usual two.

His first experience in the cockpit will come on a filming day on February 12, which coincides with an almost religious day stateside.

Speaking at Williams’ FW45 car launch, he said: “I am going to miss the Super Bowl unfortunately.

“It’s probably one of the saddest days of my life. ‘I can’t watch the Super Bowl, are you kidding me?’†he joked.

Discussing the final between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, which is live on talkSPORT, he added: “I can’t count out Patrick Mahomes.

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“He’s so good so I’m going to have to say 27-24 Chiefs.â€

And on his own team? “I’m in the trenches here,†he said, “I’m Miami through and through and we haven’t won anything in a while, but I’m Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, Florida Panthers.â€

One upside for Sargeant is a race right in the middle of his hometown, with the Miami Grand Prix in May located around the Dolphins NFL stadium.

With the help of Netflix series Drive to Survive, F1 has finally broken through in the US after decades of effort, with the sport and its stars more recognisable than ever before.

That may come as a blow to the traditionalists, as Sargeant confirms it’s quickly sneaking up on them.

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“It seems almost as big as NASCAR and IndyCar but it’s difficult to say without seeing the numbers but it seems like it’s pretty popular,†he told marvelbet369.com.

“Obviously there’s a lot of die-hard NASCAR and IndyCar fans but with the way the sport is going in America I think it will be the biggest shortly.â€

It may be a surprise that Sargeant always had his heart set on F1, given the competition in America, but he explained why he made the move to London at the age of 12.

He explained: “It got to the point where we had to make that decision, and it was early.

“But we were just looking to where the best competition was and it was always Europe, Europe, Europe, Europe, that’s where you have to be if you want to go against the best.

“That was simply the only motivation towards moving over here, to come over here and race against the best.â€