Will Logan Sargeant’s last race for Williams await? There is speculation in the paddock that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace him from Imola.
Update:
According to Will Buxton, Williams is quite emphatically denying that they want to put Antonelli in the car at Imola. In the meantime, however, other websites brought the information that the FIA has a request for an exemption and the granting of a super license on the table. So it is possible that Antonelli’s debut could happen this year, but in one of the later races.
Antonelli will race in Imola. The question is whether it will be in a Formula 2 or Formula 1 car. Mercedes should have already applied to the FIA for the necessary exemption.
After Verstappen’s debut, the rules for obtaining a super license were tightened. A rider has to fulfill several things, but the most important are two conditions – to have 40 points and to be 18 years old.
Antonelli only made his debut in F2 this year and has never driven in F3. However, he collected laurels in the lower categories. Thanks to victories in F4 (German and Italian) and regional formulas (European and Middle Eastern), he already has much more than 40 points today. By the way, there are 25 points for just winning the European Regional Formula. If we count correctly, he should have a total of 67 points, but that is not so important.
Age is the problem. Antonelli was born on August 25, 2006, so he is still seventeen. If he should make his debut this year, it could theoretically happen first in Zandvoort, which is on the program exactly on his 18th birthday.
But according to Will Buxton or the website planetf1, Mercedes has already approached the FIA with a request for an exemption. He can also argue with test data. Antonelli tested the older Mercedes car at the Red Bull Ring and the newer one (2022) at Imola.
If he could race for Williams this year, he would gain the necessary experience and Mercedes could consider whether to put him next to Russell in Mercedes next year.
If Antonelli actually made his Imola debut, it would be at the age of 17 years, 8 months and 24 days. Max Verstappen’s record (17 years, 5 months and 15 days) would not be threatened.
