On the day that Logan Sargeant lastly out-qualifies Alex Albon, it’s claimed that Williams is trying to exchange the American with Kimi Antonelli. Not so, say James Vowles and Toto Wolff.
The declare follows reviews that the FIA has obtained a request for dispensation – believed to have come from Williams – for the teenager to be granted a superlicence earlier than his 18th birthday.
The Italian would not flip 18 till 25 August – the day of the Dutch Grand Prix – nevertheless, chatting with reporters in Miami, Williams boss, James Vowles performed down the discuss.
“Now we have far greater issues to unravel than drivers in the meanwhile,” he stated. “Alex has finished championship-level drives and in the meanwhile he is not scoring factors and basically we now have it on us to enhance our automotive going ahead. That is my major concern greater than anything and what we do with drivers going into ’25, ’26.
All of us listed here are simply checking out the place we will be for subsequent 12 months basically,” he added. “And of that, there are alternatives on the desk, however it’s far too early to inform.
“Within the sense of Kimi, you must keep in mind it is simply 20 months in the past he was in a Formulation 4 automotive. That is a big, massive step up right into a Formulation 1 automotive in such a brief area of time.”
Requested if he had been following the Italian’s progress in his (F1) assessments for Mercedes on the Purple Bull Ring and Imola, Vowles stated: “My info supply is journalism for that. So I haven’t got any direct communication with Mercedes on how he is doing within the assessments. I simply perceive that he has been testing in Imola and I feel he additionally did Austria on the identical time.
“So for that one, all the pieces I learn is what you learn, which so far as I can inform, it is good. However you’ll be able to’t actually evaluate in that scenario. It is older automobiles. I am unsure if it is a ’21 or a ’22 automotive. And there is nothing actually to reference it to.”
Requested if he has really spoken to Antonelli, Vowles stated: “Let’s put it this fashion. I have never spoken to Kimi since Abu Dhabi final 12 months. Hopefully that places it in context.
“I do know nothing about what is going on on at Mercedes’ assessments proper now,” he added. “We’re wanting, as everybody else is, for the place we wish to be on driver line-up for subsequent 12 months and we now have our personal younger driver programme. Within the case of Kimi, I am unable to actually adjudicate on the extent he is at.
“In case of him coming into the automotive this 12 months, I’ve all the time stated from the start, it is a meritocracy. Logan has to earn his seat. And in the meanwhile, he has some powerful targets the place he has to get a lot nearer to Alex. However there’s nothing on the radar in the meanwhile for changing him.”
After all, Antonelli is already being linked with Mercedes, the teenager one among a number of names being thought-about as Lewis Hamilton’s substitute. Nonetheless, Toto Wolff insists that he desires issues to play out naturally, and although conscious that he let Max Verstappen slip by his fingers, insists that he has no intention of fixing his authentic plans for the Italian.
“The dispensation was one thing that wasn’t introduced up by us and we now have actually said from the start that that was not one thing we now have pursued,” he informed Motorsport.com. “I do not know the place this perception comes from that Mercedes was eager on pushing that ahead.
“Kimi wants to focus on his F2 marketing campaign and he is aware of that,” he added. “The whole lot else is simply rumours, which proceed to spin round and which are factually incorrect. He is an F2 driver for Prema, that’s what he is doing, and that is what we’re all concentrating on.
“Simply 15 months in the past, he was in an F4 automotive,” he continued. “Now we have nice perception in Kimi, his skills and likewise his future. However there’s a trajectory which we have to observe with diligence, quite than making an attempt to dream about leaping from collection to collection in a method that’s actually not helpful for him.
“I feel a champion just isn’t going to be distracted by any of this. However actually, at the very least it distracts me as a result of everyone’s asking me: ‘What about Kimi and driving in Imola?’ This isn’t going to occur. This isn’t one thing that Mercedes desires. These rumours have gotten their very own spin. Let’s do Formulation 2. We as a staff have a number of different points to resolve.”
Referring to Antonelli’s F1 check debut, Wolff stated: “It is fully on the trajectory that we anticipated. There are simpler days, there are tougher days. The testing goes very effectively and we’re simply approaching it calm and picked up.
“That’s what we now have deliberate earlier than the season, a strong F2 marketing campaign and testing for Mercedes, and we’ll proceed to only do that. The whole lot else is only a distraction for all of us.
“We’re tremendous proud of George. He will proceed to be a driver on this staff. And all the pieces else we see panning out on the motive force market. It is not going to occur within the subsequent few weeks or a few months.”
It is understood that Mercedes is to run Antonelli and Mick Schumacher in a check at Silverstone as early subsequent week, however Wolff nonetheless insistent that he would not wish to rush the Italian teenager into F1.
Take a look at our Friday gallery from Miami here.
