Sargeant lifeline handed after enduring F1 ‘hardship’

Cyril Abiteboul and Nicolas Minassian have reflected on the “hardship” Logan Sargeant faced in F1 as the American driver embarks on the next chapter of his motorsport career.

The two men signed the 23-year-old to race for their newly-launched Hyundai-backed endurance team Genesis Magma Racing, which will compete in the LMP2 class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) next season.

The former Williams F1 driver will be partnered by three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and 19-year-old Mathys Jaubert.

Abiteboul, who was previously Renault’s team principal in F1, and ex-racing driver Minassian’s new project is Korean manufacturer’s sportscar venture, with a hypercar programme for LMDh also being announced for 2026 and beyond.

That first year will see Genesis run a two-car entry in WEC, with Hyundai confirming its luxury brand will embark on an IMSA programme the following campaign.

Sargeant, Chadwick and Jaubert will form part of its “trajectory programme” in the second tier of endurance racing.

The American recently tested in IndyCar, but a seat for 2025 was never on the table. Whether he returns to single seaters in the future is not yet certain, but Abiteboul nonetheless feels he “deserves” a second chance after the torrid time he endured in the so-called pinnacle of motorsport.

“Logan, we believe, deserves to be given another chance in motorsport, and to sort of reset from that process, from the hardship he faced in F1,” Abiteboul told select media including RacingNews365.

Minassain, meanwhile, focused on the positives Sargeant brings to the fledgling outfit, speaking glowingly of the qualities he displayed when they first met.

“Logan was surprisingly, as I didn’t know him, very open and very excited to drive a racing car again after his bad patch,” he said. “And I like his humbleness. [He’s] very humble, very passionate and motivated.

“F1 is very big, and obviously an LMP2 is a little different, but it’s racing, and that’s what’s motivating.

“We put him in the car, he as very strong and when something goes very well, and you feel you have somebody that is motivated for endurance racing, it’s all about having a good group of people, and he fitted very well.”