Williams deny that Mercedes wonderkid will replace Logan Sargeant at Imola
Williams have rubbished talk 🅷that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replaceꦓ Logan Sargeant at Imola.
Williams have denied rumours that Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Logan Sargeant at the next F1 race.
Speculation about Antonelli being fast-tracked into an F1 seat before the end of the year ramped up at the Miami Grand Prix when it emerged that the FIA has received a request to run the 17-year-old before his 18th biཧrthday in August.
It is not known which team submitted the request to F1’s governing body, but it is believed to have bee൩n instigated by Williams, a customer team of Mercedes.
This led to talk ღthat Sargeant, who is under pressure to turnaround his form in order to retain his Williams seat for next season, could⛄ be replaced at the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in two weeks’ time.
But Williams team principal James Vo✤wles insists that will not hap🌠pen.
"There was a rumour going around that heℱ'll be in the car from Imola - he won't beꦉ in the car for Imola," Vowles told F1 TV.
However, Vowles admitted Williams are in the process of evaluating who will partner 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alex Albon in 2025 and beyond.
"What we're doing at the moment is eva🍨luating drivers for 2026 and 2025, and what we really want is the right dr𒅌iver pairing for those two years as when you go through a regulation changes you don't want to be changing drivers, so you're looking for the right pairing for that period of time,” he added.
"There's no💜 doubt that he's got huge skill to him, but he was in a F4 car 20 months ago, that's where he is, it's a very different proposition to most. We've been talking to four or five drivers at the🦂 moment for that period of time.
"I'm quite happy to sit back a little bit and wait, more so than that, I have a duty and responsibility to make this car faster first, because Alex is a championship level driver, we've got to provide the right car for him to be behind him and we haven't yet, and then 🐼that typically unlocks other possibilities in the future.”
On the request to field Antonelli, an FIA spokesperson said: “We have received this request, and we are looking into it. But there's a procꦬess to be followed and multiple people/commissions required to vote and agree to it as it requires a rule change.”
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