Formula 1 Rumor: Italian Antonelli to replace Sargeant soon? (2nd Update)

(GMM) Former F1 team boss Gunther Steiner thinks it’s possible Logan Sargeant could be ousted even before the 2024 season is complete.

The FIA has shown a green-light to teenagers like Kimi Antonelli to make their F1 debuts, nixing a rule that required drivers to be at least 18.

Now, 17-year-olds who have “consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition” can obtain a super license.

Decisions will be made “at the sole discretion of the FIA,” the FIA added.

The move follows earlier reports that Mercedes-powered Williams had applied to the governing body for special dispensation to allow Antonelli to take part in official F1 track sessions whilst he’s still 17.

The young Italian is hotly tipped to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025, but Antonelli’s manager Toto Wolff is rumored to want to give him real-world F1 experience before then.

Williams boss James Vowles, who is close to Wolff, had admitted in Canada recently that the seat currently occupied by Logan Sargeant is in serious doubt.

“We need more from him, really, to be able to save his seat in that sort of circumstance,” he said.

Given the FIA’s new stance on 17-year-olds, immediate free practice outings for Antonelli are now possible – but also possible is that he will step into Sargeant’s shoes for the rest of the season.

“I think he (Sargeant) will have to leave at the end of the year,” former Haas boss Steiner told the Red Flags podcast.

As for a mid-season ousting, he is not so sure.

“First and foremost, you try to work with the people you have,” said Steiner. “Of course, at some point enough is enough and people ask themselves, ‘Why are we doing this to ourselves?’

“If he experiences a few more races before the summer break like the one in Canada, it could be that another driver will be in his cockpit after the (summer) break.”

Williams boss James Vowles says Kimi Antonelli won’t be in their car in Imola. The team are talking to four or five drivers about a race seat for next year – but he’s not in a rush to decide. Says any deal would be two years, for 2025 and 2026.

What Mercedes should do is bench Lewis Hamilton immediately and run Antonelli.  Hamilton is not performing and the longer he stays close to the team, the more Mercedes secrets he takes to Ferrari next year.

Putting Hamilton on gardening leave makes perfect sense, but the team boss is Toto Wolff. Enough said.

(GMM) 17-year-old Italian youngster Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli is being prepared for an imminent Formula 1 race debut.

Heading into the Miami GP weekend, rumors were already swirling that it will be struggling Williams driver Logan Sargeant’s last race for the team.

F2 rookie Antonelli is the protégé of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who is famously close to Mercedes-powered Williams’ team principal James Vowles.

Vowles tried to play down the rumors in Miami.

“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to Kimi since Abu Dhabi last year. Hopefully that puts it in context.”

Antonelli has been testing older Mercedes F1 cars recently – at the Red Bull Ring (the 2021 car) and more recently at Imola (the 2022 car).

It now emerges that a team, believed to be Williams, has submitted a request to the FIA for special dispensation so that Antonelli can secure his F1 super license prior to his 18th birthday in August.

The implication is that he could replace Sargeant at Imola in two weeks.

“We have received the (super license) request and there is a procedure that must be followed for any possible change of the rules,” an FIA spokesperson told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Vowles doesn’t deny that Antonelli could be in Sargeant’s car later this year.

“We are looking, as everyone else is, for where we want to be on driver lineup for next year, and we have our own young driver program,” he said.

“In the case of him coming into the car this year, I’ve always said from the beginning, it’s a meritocracy. Logan has to earn his seat,” Vowles warned.

“At the moment, he (Sargeant) has some tough targets where he has to get much closer to Alex (Albon).”