The drivers that make it to F1 are some of the supreme talents in the world on four wheels. The issue, though, with racing at the highest level is that you're not only fighting with the top 1% of the world but also getting judged accordingly.
This is precisely why F1 is a cutthroat sport, and more often than not, despite being brilliant talents, some drivers get criticized when their performances don't cross the much-needed threshold.
When you're at the highest of levels, you're compared against the 19 other best talents from different parts of the world, and if you're even 1% slower than them, you're judged harshly.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens when we look at the current F1 grid, which has more or less killed the pay driver plague. You have some great drivers on the grid, and then there are some drivers who are just not able to extract the best from the car. In this feature, we take a look at the drivers who seem to be deadweights to their respective teams, as they aren't able to produce the results that the car is capable of.
#1 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Lance Stroll is a driver who is more than capable of being in F1. He's one of the youngest drivers to score an F1 podium and also had a pole position in the treacherous conditions of the 2020 Turkish GP.
However, Lance does not deserve a seat on a front-running team like Aston Martin, because the driver has been too far off from what the car is capable of. Just a glance at the points standings from last season and this season shows that Stroll has become a liability for Aston Martin.
The team has become completely dependent on Fernando Alonso, and there's no other avenue for the team to get decent results as Lance is just not consistent. In terms of deadweights and liabilities to their teams, Lance is right at the top of this list.
#2 Logan Sargeant (Williams F1)
Logan Sargeant was given a second season by Williams with hopes that the American could find a better and more mature approach after a year of racing under him. Unfortunately, that has not happened. The driver has been unable to string together a decent weekend even this season, as the mistakes are still prevalent.
What hurts him even more is that the gap to Alex Albon still exists, and there hasn't been any noticeable change in the way he executed his weekends from 2023 to now.
In terms of results, Williams needs a driver who can compete against Alex Albon and even beat him sometimes. The fact that Logan hasn't done it even once and adds next to no challenge is a sign of how the improvements that Williams had wished for are just not there.
With rumors of Kimi Antonelli being linked to a seat with the team, it will be interesting to see what happens, because, at the moment, Logan Sargeant looks like a deadweight for Williams in quite a few ways.
#3 Guanyu Zhou (Sauber/Audi)
Many praised Zhou Guanyu, and he had a weekend from heaven in the recently concluded F1 Chinese GP. However, the young driver's performances have just not been up to par. In what is his third season, he's getting beaten comprehensively by his teammate Valtteri Bottas, and the gap has not reduced since his rookie year.
If we look at the 50+ races of Zhou's F1 career, he has not performed at a high level so far. Even in the F1 Chinese GP, Sauber had a car capable of scoring points, but Zhou was nowhere close to achieving anything with it.
The driver has been given ample opportunities and now the time has come for the team to look at other options, especially with Audi starting to take over in terms of influence.
