Williams warned against Andrea Kimi Antonelli mid-season swap after key FIA Super Licence changes

Logan Sargeant or Kimi Antonelli for the Williams seat?

Former Bridgestone competition chief Kees van de Grint does not believe Williams should be looking to replace Logan Sargeant mid-season with Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Following a difficult rookie campaign, Williams opted to stick with American racer Sargeant for another season, though speculation is once more swirling regarding his Formula 1 future.

Williams to swap Logan Sargeant for Andrea Kimi Antonelli?

With Alex Albon having been signed to a new multi-year deal, Williams team principal James Vowles has openly revealed departing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz as their “number one target” for F1 2025, which would leave Sargeant out of a seat. But, is Sainz not his only threat?

Mercedes star prospect Antonelli was the subject of a recent Super Licence dispensation request lodged with the FIA, not made by Mercedes, as despite satisfying the required 40 points to qualify, he did not meet the minimum age of 18, nor did he hold a valid driving licence for road use.

Williams are the most likely team to have lodged the request and now the FIA has tweaked its Super Licence rules, permitting the governing body to issue a Super Licence to a 17-year-old who has “recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition”.

With Antonelli turning 18 on August 25, the day of the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race back after the F1 2024 summer break, speculation has arisen that Williams could look to oust Sargeant in-season in favour of Antonelli, though van de Grint is “not in favour of that”.

Sargeant is contracted to Williams until the end of the F1 2024 campaign and van de Grint thinks Williams should honour that.

“He’s getting a little faster, but is a candidate to be replaced by a good Formula 2 driver,” van de Grint told RacingNews365.com.

“That would disappoint me. If I were to believe the Williams team last year, that they stuck with that driver, gave him a chance to develop and then cast him aside now.

“But there could also be politics involved in that. There are also rumours that Antonelli would come into that car mid-year. Personally, I wouldn’t do that, but anything is possible in Formula 1.

“I think: you start with something and then you end when it should end. And that is at the end of the season.

“I’m not even talking about Nyck de Vries’ performance, but I thought it was outrageous how that went down with Nyck. That’s history. Not because of his performance, because his replacement [Daniel Ricciardo] didn’t do that much better.

“But I think: you contract someone and you do that with your full mind. That you have faith in them and think: ‘This is a talent’. Then things can turn out a bit differently.

“But then you neatly finish the period you agreed on. And then you say: ‘Okay, it hasn’t turned out what I thought it would. So we will look for another one’. But to throw someone out in the middle of the season, I’m not in favour of that.”

More on Mercedes Junior Team standout Andrea Kimi Antonelli

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Antonelli is a key contender to join the Mercedes line-up for F1 2025 as the team search for Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff seeing him as a major player in their reinvention plans, which has seen the door close for Sainz.

Speaking to Sky F1, Wolff said: “I think first of all, Carlos deserves a top seat. I mean, he’s done a fantastic job.

“But for us, we’ve embarked on a route now to say, ‘You know what, we want to reinvent ourselves a little bit going forward’. And Kimi Antonelli definitely plays a part in that.

“We haven’t taken the decision yet for next year, but we didn’t want to have Carlos wait as well, because he needs to take the decisions for himself and that’s just fair. But he’s doing a super job.”

Antonelli is currently sixth in the 2024 Formula 2 Championship standings, 32 points behind leader and former Mercedes junior Paul Aron.