Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images
According to reports Williams is ‘evaluating’ replacing Logan Sargeant, but Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been ruled out as an option
Logan Sargeant’s time at Williams is coming to a close, as the Formula 1 team announced earlier this summer that Carlos Sainz Jr. will be joining the team on a “multi-year” contract starting next season. However, Sargeant’s time in the seat might be running out, as a report following his crash during practice at the Dutch Grand Prix indicates that the team may make a change before the season is over.
If Williams indeed implements a driver switch, do not expect young phenom Andrea Kimi Antonelli to get that seat.
Sargeant’s tough Saturday led to a report from Erik van Haren from De Telegraaf that he might be replaced before the end of the season, with Mick Schumacher and Liam Lawson listed as options. That report prompted further speculation that perhaps Mercedes may look to slide Antonelli into that seat, ahead of the young driver’s assumed promotion to Mercedes alongside George Russell for the 2025 season.
However, speaking with Sky Sports F1 following the Dutch Grand Prix — won by Lando Norris in dominating fashion — Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff dismissed that idea. Yet, Antonelli will get a chance to drive for Mercedes next week at the Italian Grand Prix, as previously planned.
“That’s not going to happen,” Wolff told Sky. “We’re going to put Kimi in FP1 on Friday, that’s definitive, and continue our program as we have planned.”
Whether Sargeant is replaced at all remains to be seen. Following van Haren’s report Sky Sports F1 journalist Craig Slater reported on Sunday that the team is “evaluating” such a move:
“My understanding is Williams are evaluating whether they should sub Sargeant out of the car before the end of the season and perhaps place another driver in there, perhaps as an almost kindness to himself, as his form really is bedraggled at the moment,” reported Slater.
“Now it may happen, it may not happen. It’s something they are evaluating as I understand it. The team are saying absolutely nothing on the record.”
If not Antonelli, then who? Slater pointed to Schumacher and Lawson, noting that Schumacher may be the “likeliest” option given Lawson’s contractual obligations to Red Bull.
“It’s also tricky for Williams to maybe put Liam Lawson in there, who is part of the Red Bull program,” noted Slater. “Mick Schumacher, given his contractual availability, is perhaps the likeliest driver if Williams decide to switch out Logan Sargeant.”
Yet, according to at least one Red Bull figure, Lawson may still be an option for Williams if a switch is made:
Helmut Marko was asked by @skysportformel1 whether Liam Lawson would get permission to drive for Williams this season: „If it’s good for a young driver and he can gain some race experience we wouldn’t stand in the way.” #F1
— Tobi Grüner (@tgruener) August 25, 2024
The driver market is never dull in Formula 1.
