Williams Racing‘s team principal has confirmed he’s talking to other drivers about replacing the underwhelming Logan Sargeant as the American driver continues to fail to get to grips with Formula 1, despite being into his second season.
James Vowles confirmed that he’s had a direct conversation with the 23-year-old about his performances as Sargeant continues to be devastatingly outperformed by Alex Albon as the team looks to get both drivers into the fight for points.
The second-season driver was given the benefit of the doubt by the Williams boss throughout his debut campaign in F1, but now it appears as though the team leaders are beginning to lose faith in his ability to make an impact as they reportedly turn their attention to Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
“We’ve had a direct conversation which is a very hard conversation,” Vowles said of Sargeant to Sky Sports F1. “The simple matter of fact is he’s at risk.
“He has to perform above what he is. It’s meritocracy. I’m helping him on his journey and want him to be successful.
“In the mean time, we are talking to a few other drivers because we have to, to get our 2025, 2026, 2027 line-up correct. I would say in a few weeks you will see some potential news in that area.”
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Who could replace Sargeant?
At the moment, it the betting man would pick Antonelli as he has been consistently testing Mercedes cars with the Silver Arrows looking to fast-track him into F1 if Max Verstappen fails to quit Red Bull to join them.
But with limited experience in single seaters at all, and very, very limited knowledge of F1 cars, Toto Wolff might be hesitant to put the 17-year-old in his vacant seat alongside George Russell for 2025, which is where Williams enter.
The British team, who are based not too far away from Mercedes in the UK, enjoyed a successful partnership as engine buyers and driver developers as evidenced by the careers of Valtteri Bottas and Russell, who both began their journeys in Grove.
If Antonelli looks promising, but not quite ready for the upper-end of the grid, then Vowles could take him on to help develop him before he eventually links up with the German outfit in a few years’ time.
It’s thought that decision could even happen this summer as a team has requested a special license to be given to him by the FIA, something Mercedes deny was them.
Other drivers, however, could be Zhou Guanyu, Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez or Kevin Magnussen, who all appear to have their seats for next season in jeopardy. Either way, as Vowles said, we might have our answer in a few weeks.
