Logan Sargeant has slammed a former Formula 1 driver for gossiping about his situation.
It is almost certain that Sargeant, 23, will be ousted by Williams at the end of the year - amid rumours boss James Vowles actually tried and failed to replace him immediately with Esteban Ocon.
"A couple of my American friends who know Sargeant told me that he and James Vowles don’t even seem to talk to each other anymore," former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson, now in Indycar, told Viaplay recently.
"They just say hello. They completely cut off the connection between them," the former Sauber driver added.
American Sargeant was not impressed when he was told about Ericsson’s comments.
"He has a reputation for spreading things about other people, even though he never spoke to me in his life," he said at Spa-Francorchamps.
"I just spoke to James 20 minutes ago. So this is completely untrue."
However, there is almost no doubt at all that Sargeant’s F1 career will be over for now at the end of 2024.
"It’s not an easy season, considering how much has happened, both for me and for the team, we’ve suffered in certain areas," he said.
"So of course it may appear from the outside that the relationship has deteriorated, but in fact we continue to work as before. We try to perform during the weekend for the team."