Williams urged to ‘find a solution’ to Logan Sargeant problem with two candidates in the running
Logan Sargeant and a Williams logo
Never mind wonderkid Kimi Antonelli, Ralf Schumacher believes if Williams want a replacement, as they should for Logan Sargeant, they should look to Mick Schumacher.
Sargeant’s future in Formula 1 was in question at the Miami Grand Prix when it was revealed an unnamed team, speculated to be Williams, had requested dispensation from the FIA for Antonelli to be permitted to race before his 18th birthday.
Williams urged to ‘find a solution’ to Logan Sargeant problem
Just 17 years old today, the Italian would need the FIA’s permission to contest a Grand Prix after Formula 1 imposed a minimum age of 18. Antonelli doesn’t turn 18 until the Sunday of the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
It’s Sargeant who would be out of a job if the FIA granted the request.
But while Williams and Mercedes both denied that putting the Italian in the car at the next in Imola was the plan, Schumacher believes Sargeant’s time is up.
“It’s clear that Sargeant is overwhelmed,” the former F1 driver told the Formula1.de YouTube channel. “That’s how it is.
“He makes a lot of mistakes and you can tell by looking at him, even previously in China where he spun again, the body language says it all.
“I think he and the team would do themselves a favour if they can somehow find a solution.”
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Schumacher: That fits with the team’s performance
Williams team boss James Vowles continues to support Sargeant and in Miami insisted he will “remain in the car”.
“We’re still on that journey,” he said. “What Logan has as a challenge fundamentally in front of him is enormous.
“What I’ve been asking from him is despite the pressures of the world, the pressures we’ve created, the pressures I’ve created, the pressure all of you [media] have created, you need to pool that all and put it behind you and make sure you’re now out there fighting and outqualifying Alex, pushing the team forward as a result of things.
“And those targets effectively are encompassed in a number of other more formal ways of putting it, but without doubt, this is a tough field. There’s no doubt about it.”
He added: “He’s in the car, he’ll remain in the car. And my job here is supporting him.”
Schumacher, somewhat sarcastically, says that “fits” with Williams’ on-track performances with the team yet to get off the mark this season.
“Of course, you can wait. You can do anything. You can let him drive for another ten years,” Schumacher said. “I don’t understand the patience of Formula 1.
“Eddie Jordan or Frank Williams would never have had that much patience. I grew up differently in Formula 1. A contract wasn’t of any use to you.”
Surprised by Vowles’ insistence that Sargeant is staying, Schumacher added: “That fits a bit with the team’s performance.
“I would have trusted Williams more this year. That’s why it’s essential for the management to bring in a second good driver in order to get out of the situation and not just worry about the second driver must.”
Schumacher believes his nephew Mick Schumacher could be the man for the job.
“I do believe that Mick has the potential and deserves a place compared to some others who are currently driving in Formula 1,” he added.
Mick Schumacher and Antonelli will drive a 2022 Mercedes W13 in what has been billed a ‘comparison’ test at Silverstone.