Williams boss James Vowles has ‘no doubt’ on rumoured Logan Sargeant replacement’s F1 future

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Williams team principal James Vowles has ‘no doubt’ that Mercedes protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make it to F1 amid links to the F2 driver replacing Logan Sargeant.

The Grove squad have a decision to make regarding their driver line-up for 2025. Sargeant is only under contract at Williams for the 2024 season after signing his second single-year deal in December. Vowles opted to keep the 23-year-old after his rookie campaign on the F1 grid.

Williams brought Sargeant through from Formula 2 before appointing Vowles as their team principal. The American joined Alex Albon in their garage but lost 22-0 in qualifying, 19-3 in Grand Prix, 6-0 in Sprints and 6-0 in Sprint Shootouts to the 27-year-old across last season.

Mercedes gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli could replace Logan Sargeant at Williams in 2025

Sargeant has already started this season on the backfoot to Albon in their inner-team head-to-heads, as well. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida native qualified and finished behind Albon at the Bahrain GP and the Saudi Arabian GP. He was also the only driver lapped twice in Sakhir.

So, while Albon is under contract for 2025, Williams have a decision to make over Sargeant’s seat with Mercedes talent Antonelli one option for it. ESPN’s Laurence Edmondson suggests that 2025 race drives with Williams or Mercedes are ‘very, very possible’ for the 17-year-old.

Mark Hughes of The Race has also reported that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff views Antonelli as their ‘Plan A’ option to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Even though the Italian is just four races into his F2 career after skipping F3 to compete in F1’s leading feeder series.

James Vowles has ‘no doubt’ that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make it to Formula 1

Prema struggling to adapt to F2’s new-for-2024 car saw Antonelli struggle in Bahrain. He set the 17th-fastest time in qualifying but finished the Sprint race in P14 and the Feature race in P10. The Bologna native then finished in sixth in both races in Jeddah from P5 on each grid.

F2 will now head to Melbourne alongside F1 for this weekend’s Australian GP round. But the pinnacle of motorsport awaits Antonelli in the future as far as Williams boss Vowles sees. He is convinced the Italian will make it to F1, just maybe not yet at Sargeant’s expense for 2025.

“I have no doubt that Kimi will be in F1,” Vowles said, via GP Blog. “He’s done incredibly well in his junior series. But that doesn’t mean he will be in Williams, necessarily. I believe in investing in youth but I’ll take people on merit into the organisation.

“I’m fortunate enough to have two juniors, myself, in F2 and in F3. We’re starting to build a sensible programme to develop the next generation of drivers. He’s in a position that you would hope. From my perspective, it’s more about looking what happens going forward.

“I have Alex Albon here next year under contract and I have Logan Sargeant obviously under contract, as well, along with juniors. It’s just a question of seeing how everything plays out across the next six months.”

James Vowles has known Andrea Kimi Antonelli since he was 12 years old

Williams team principal Vowles knows Antonelli well having worked with the teenager while at Mercedes from 2019. Vowles was in charge of the Silver Arrows’ young driver programme alongside his role as their strategy director. Vowles left to move to Williams in January 2023.

Vowles added: “When you’re looking after a junior who is 11, you have no idea that they are going to be incredible or perhaps good, great or average. But, with him, you could see early on in the F4 days that he was developing exceptionally well.”

Antonelli was just 12 years old when he joined Mercedes’ driver academy in 2019 whilst still racing go-karts. Under Vowles’ watch, the Italian then switched to single-seaters in 2021. He also won Italian and German F4 titles in 2022, and did the Formula Regional double in 2023.