In Formula One, some teams aren’t shy about dropping drivers mid-season. Drivers have come and gone in past seasons, such as Daniil Kvyat being replaced by the then unknown Max Verstappen in 2016 or recently Daniel Ricciardo being replaced by RB reserve driver Liam Lawson. Although the same questions are always asked: is it the best choice to take? Would the driver have improved if they were kept on? Did the team pull the plug too soon? We will go over the recent driver drops and changes and answer these questions. 

Nyck De Vries 

Nyck De Vries started off his Formula One career by replacing Alex Albon during the 2022 Italian Grand Prix due to Albon being ruled out with appendicitis. De Vries finished the race in a comfortable P9 scoring 2 points which would then be his first and only points of his Formula One career. 

After this stint, De Vries was put into the spotlight with teams wanting to put the Dutch driver into their cars in hopes he would follow in the footsteps of the then two-time Dutch world champion, Max Verstappen who later moved onto becoming a three-time world champion.  

At the start of the 2023 season, De Vries was signed by Alpha Tauri to fill the seat of Pierre Gasly to drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda. De Vries had a slow start to the season with ending the Bharain Grand Prix in P14. De Vries was expected to run his season; to try and score points like he did in the Williams car but just ten rounds into the season De Vries was let go by Alpha Tauri to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. Throughout the season, De Vries had an average race finish of P15 with one DNF.  

However, was dropping De Vries the best choice? 

During the 2023 season, Alpha Tauri was in a fierce constructor’s battle with Williams. They needed points scored to secure 8th in the standings, and with De Vries coming to Alpha Tauri after his display in the Williams car during the Italian Grand Prix, they were hoping for De Vries to pull the Alpha Tauri car between the races to score the points they needed. But over the 10 rounds, De Vries ended up scoring no points, which isn’t what Alpha Tauri wanted or needed.  

Formula One is all about speed and scoring points, but it seemed that De Vries didn’t meet any of those requirements. Alpha Tauri had their season strategy in place and what they wanted out of the drivers, so it seems the best choice they were left with was parting ways with De Vries midway through the season, filling his seat with Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the 2023 season. 

Would De Vries have improved if he was kept on, was the plug pulled too early?  

The question of whether De Vries would have improved has always been asked, let’s take a closer look. De Vries had an average race finish of P15 with only one DNF, but he seemed to have performed better in the Williams car, which is hard to know for definite with De Vries only driving in the Williams car once, yet compared to driving in the Alpha Tauri car he was able to score points in the Williams.  It seemed De Vries’ driving style better suited the Williams car compared to the Alpha Tauri car. It would make sense why the plug was pulled so quickly De Vries was going to take a long time to get used to the car, a team like Alpha Tauri during that time needed a driver to make a quick turnaround to get them the points they needed. 

Post Formula One career 

De Vries after leaving Formula One midway through the 2023 season has left a positive impact on his motorsports career. Currently, De Vries is in the World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing and in Formula E for Mahindra. De Vries has adapted well into the different motorsports leagues compared to Formula One, De Vries finding cars that fit his driving style and pace which has now changed his motorsport career for the better.  

Logan Sargeant 

Logan Sargeant started off his senior motorsports career in Formula Four, moving all the way up the ladder before reaching Formula One in 2023. Sargeant joined Williams at the start of the 2023 season as a rookie driver. Over the 2023 season, Sargeant averaged a race finish of P16 and scored one point. Sargeant had a slow start to the season with moving up quickly to Formula One after competing in just two seasons of Formula Two, his season was rocky with a constant debate over Williams dropping the American driver midway through the season but with it being Sergeant’s first ever season in Formula One he was given the benefit of the doubt and kept on for the rest of the season.  

The start of the 2024 season saw Sargeant finishing in P20 in Bharain, so far through the season Sargeant has scored no points with an average race finish of P17. After just 15 rounds into the season, Sargeant and Williams parted ways with Franco Colapinto stepping up to fill in Sargeant’s seat until the end of the season.  

However, was dropping Sargeant the best choice? 

Williams came into the 2024 season with the hopes to make a change in history with their new car, but it has shown throughout the season that Alex Albon has adapted to the car well and getting the points they need in the Constructors while Sargeant fell behind a bit and taking a while to understand the car which isn’t what Williams need.

Dropping Sargeant mid-season seemed harsh, only being his second formula one season, but the team also had to consider what was best on their running in the Constructors. It is also known through the 2023 and 2024 seasons that Sargeant had the habit of crashing with a combination of nine crashes which in the end cost Williams a lot of money. A team like Williams being so far down the ladder on the constructors means they don’t have that much money to spend on constantly fixing cars when they need to focus on getting through the season to get the final points they need to make a dent in the runner ups.  

Would Sargeant have improved if he was kept on, was the plug pulled too early? 

Overall, looking at the results from the 2023 season and the 15 rounds Sargeant did in the current 2024 season, it shows that Sargeant wouldn’t have improved. Williams gave Sargeant time to improve during the 2023 season and kept him on due to giving him the benefit of the doubt since it was his first season in Formula One but going into the 2024 season Williams had a different mindset and they expected Sargeant to improve which never happened, which left them pulling the plug at the perfect time.  

Post Formula One career 

Sargeant has stayed relatively quiet on social media since his parting of ways with Williams with the odd post about his personal life. The only news heard about what stage Sargeant is in of his motorsport career is a test drive in November with the Indy Car team Meyer Shank Racing which could lead him to the pathway of driving in Indy Car which at this current stage is just speculation with no definite answer as to what is next for the American driver.  

Daniel Ricciardo 

Daniel Ricciardo started off his senior racing career in Western Australian Formula Ford Championship. Over the years, Ricciardo has built up his racing skills to pull himself all the way up to Formula One. Ricciardo joined Formula One in 2012 with Torro Rosso. During the 2012 season Ricciardo scored 10 points with an average race finish of P14. From 2014 to 2018 Ricciardo drove for Red Bull then moving to Renault in 2019 to 2020 to Mclaren from 2021 to 2022 before finishing off at RB from 2023 to 2024.

Ricciardo was once Red Bull’s golden boy, destined to be the next world champion but that never happened due to his own choices. Ricciardo himself came into the fill in the seat of a dropped driver which was De Vries during 2023 but was ruled out of four rounds due to a crash in free practice two in Zandvoort that left the Australian with a broken wrist. Ricciardo ended the 2023 season on a bad note due to the injury but was ready to give it his all for the 2024 season. Ricciardo made it through 18 rounds before parting ways with RB due to underperformance.  

However, was dropping Ricciardo the best choice? 

Red Bull has been the dominating team for the past couple of seasons with some of their drivers becoming world champions with the likes of Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull is all about speed, high expectations and scoring points. Red Bull need a driver to score points for them to make an impact in the World Championship and the Constructors which isn’t what Ricciardo was providing.

So far into the 2024 season, Ricciardo has scored 12 points with an average race finish of P12. It shows that Ricciardo’s performance was starting to go downhill after his injury, it seemed the injury had a knock in his confidence after Lawson came in during Singapore and outshining Ricciardo. Red Bull’s final choice after some back and forth was to part ways with Ricciardo for the rest of the season, Lawson coming in to fill Ricciardo’s seat.  

Would Ricciardo have improved if he was kept on, was the plug pulled too early? 

Ricciardo through his time in Formula One proved himself again and again, he shown he could drive the cars, to live up to the expectations of the Red Bull team but after his injury in Zandvoort it was hard for him to fit back into the flow of the RB car, to get back into the form he was in. The plug was pulled at the right time as it gives Ricciardo time to get practice in ahead of the 2025 season, to prove himself to hopefully secure a seat with Red Bull once more or moving on to other adventures.  

Post Formula One career 

Ricciardo’s future hasn’t been clear yet; he has kept himself off social media with news about his career being silent. It seems for now Ricciardo wants to take time to relax and get back into the flow of things to hopefully return to Formula One or choose another path to take.  

Overview 

Each driver has their own driving style, which is important when it comes to the cars that they drive. Every team has the goal of making a dent in the Constructors and in the World Championship so teams need drivers that can react quickly under pressure, to get the points that they need. If they have a driver that can’t help with their targets for the season, then the best route is to drop the driver mid-season. When a driver has their contract ended early it’s not on the basis that they didn’t perform well in a singular race it builds up overtime. This provides a benefit to the driver as it means they are given time to improve and display their skills but if they can’t provide this then the final choice is to sadly end the contract earlier which is why in a certain scenario it is the best choice to take when it comes towards the goals and targets for the end of a Formula One season.