Logan Sargeant’s Seat at Williams Under Threat, Ralf Schumacher Sends Brutal Warning to American as Kimi Antonelli Gears Up for F1

Logan Sargeant’s days in F1 look numbered. The American driver, who will celebrate his second homecoming Miami GP this weekend, could be experiencing his last time around the iconic circuit. Reportedly, Sargeant has cost millions in damages to Williams but has scored no points yet. Moreover, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s increasing debut hype, Sargeant has nowhere to hide. Former F1 driver, Ralf Schumacher, has warned the Williams driver about the same.

Williams is one of the slowest cars on the grid. Additionally, Sargeant is compared to teammate Alex Albon, who is much quicker and highly experienced. Williams, which also serves as a ‘feeder team’ for Mercedes, puts additional pressure on Toto Wolff & Co to rapidly get Antonelli up to speed in this team before a Mercedes call-up to replace Lewis Hamilton.

The 17-year-old F2 prodigy has already successfully tested Mercedes’ W12 in Imola. The next natural step for Antonelli is the 2025 Williams seat. However, with Sargeant already racking up the crash expenses (Japanese GP Qualifying), the Oxfordshire-based team can replace him as soon as Antonelli turns 18 (before the Italian GP). And Ralf Schumacher’s comments have only further fueled this theory.

“Of course, it’s still early in the season, but Logan Sargeant has to be worried about his cockpit,” Schumacher told Bild, before adding. “He makes too many mistakes and costs too much money through his accidents.” [Translated by Google]

Williams TP has wholly supported Logan Sargeant despite his troubled rookie year. For a rookie-to-rookie comparison, Oscar Piastri, who made his F1 debut in 2023, like Sargeant, has improved by leaps and bounds. Hence, this doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the 23-year-old American. Former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor even believes that Mercedes can swap him out for Antonelli at Monza.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli predicted to replace struggling Logan Sargeant at Monza

Max Verstappen was the last driver to make his F1 debut aged 17; one year before F1 imposed a minimum age requirement of 18. So, even though Antonelli has been referred to as the ‘next Max Verstappen’, he will have to wait till August end, when he turns 18. According to Peter Windsor, the Italian GP starting August 30 could be the perfect time for a swap with Sargeant.

“I think he [Kimi Antonelli] could do [replace Sargeant], Windsor said on his YT channel. “That’s [Williams] the obvious place to try him out and run him. It’s [Monza] not that demanding a circuit and obviously, Mercedes are a supplier of engines to Williams. So, they have leverage there,” he said.

“And Logan, I’m sure, doesn’t feel very good about Williams now after what happened in Australia,” he further informed, while adding,“And I presume Mercedes would pay all the bills, anyway. So I don’t think it’s a big stretch of the imagination to see that happening and I think they could even race him in [Mercedes] next year.”

Though experts like Nico Rosberg have argued against debuting Antonelli because of his age and inexperience, Toto Wolff could very well consider this Italian GP move. Even if the 17-year-old is not promoted, Sargeant remains under threat of being replaced if this absence of progress remains. What are your thoughts on this driver market drama? Let us know in the comments below.