Andrea Stella recommended ‘tremendous’ driver to replace Logan Sargeant instead of Franco Colapinto

Follow us on Google Discover

The Italian Grand Prix will see the second debut of the season after Oliver Bearman’s surprise call-up in place of Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

After a disappointing campaign, Williams decided a change was needed and dropped American driver Logan Sargeant.

There was plenty of speculation across the Dutch Grand Prix weekend about who might replace the 23-year-old.

In the end, Williams team principal James Vowles decided to promote from within and Franco Colapinto will race for the first time in F1 at Monza.

However, there were plenty of team bosses in the paddock at Zandvoort discussing the pros and cons of signing their drivers.

A report from F1 Insider has shared how McLaren’s Andrea Stella felt about the second Williams seat.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

Stella didn’t have a candidate of his own to push into the seat although junior driver Gabriel Bortoleto is trying to convince Sauber that he should partner Nico Hulkenberg next season.

Instead, Stella was pushing for Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher to step into Sargeant’s seat.

The ‘tremendous’ Schumacher – as per Toto Wolff, via RacingNews365 – hasn’t raced in F1 since 2022 after two years at Haas and is currently racing for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship.

However, he’s once again been overlooked and he may be worried about the fact that Williams would rather go with an inexperienced rookie rather than him.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella wanted Mick Schumacher to get the Williams seat

The report from F1 Insider suggests that Stella has ‘a lot of good things’ to say about Schumacher and backed him to replace Sargeant.

Toto Wolff also wanted to see Schumacher earn a promotion back into F1 and believed he deserves another chance.

However, Wolff doesn’t believe that wholeheartedly enough to offer Schumacher a seat at Mercedes with Kimi Antonelli set to be promoted ahead of him.

READ MORE: Who is F1 reserve and Alpine WEC star Mick Schumacher? Everything to know

The report goes on to say that the combined efforts of Stella and Wolff weren’t enough to convince Vowles who has never been Schumacher’s biggest fan.

Stella has seen first-hand what Schumacher can do after a test earlier in the season where the German really impressed.

Instead, Schumacher has to hope that Sauber take an interest in him if he wants to be back on the grid in 2025.

Mick Schumacher found out about another F1 rejection in the most brutal way

After a year of stability on the F1 grid where no new drivers entered the sport at the beginning of 2024, the speculation in the driver’s market has been rampant ever since Lewis Hamilton announced his surprise switch to Ferrari.

Nearly every team in the midfield has been linked with Schumacher in that time although up to this point, no one has taken a gamble on offering him a way back onto the grid.

Schumacher discovered he hadn’t got the Alpine seat via social media which was particularly disheartening for the 25-year-old.

Flavio Briatore had talked up Schumacher in the past and worked successfully with his father Michael at Benetton.

However, it appears as though Schumacher’s chances of returning to Formula 1 are dwindling and he won’t get the opportunity to impress in a Williams this year.