Toto Wolff has said that while Carlos Sainz deserves a top seat, it is unlikely he will be offered the Mercedes drive.
The Brackley team have a seat available after Hamilton’s shock switch.
The seven-time champion will join Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Kimi Antonelli – a Mercedes junior driver – has been mentioned a lot in recent weeks.
The 17-year-old F2 rookie could even move to Williams in a mid-season swap. An FIA rule change has opened the door for him to start his F1 career.
What has the FIA changed?
The FIA has changed the Super Licence age requirement from 18 to 17-years-old. This comes after a request for 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli to receive a licence early.
Antonelli’s 18th birthday is in August – so this move seems targeted at getting the Italian into F1 as soon as possible.
A swap with Logan Sergeant seems his likely destination. The American has improved in recent weeks, but still lags behind Alex Albon. Particularly on qualifying pace.
Credit: Williams F1
Antonelli’s reputation is impressive, and many see him as a future star.
Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff seems keen to get him in a seat as a proving ground. He will hope Antonelli has the ability to be a future Mercedes driver.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Wolff said:
“We’ve embarked on a route now to say – ‘You know what, we want to reinvent ourselves a little bit going forward’.
And Kimi Antonelli definitely plays a part in that.“
“We haven’t taken the decision yet for next year, but we didn’t want to have Carlos wait as well.
“Because he needs to take the decisions for himself, and that’s just fair. But he’s doing a super job.”
What does this mean for Sainz?
It’s been an up and down season for Sainz. He claimed a popular victory in Australia having recovered from surgery and has matched Charles Leclerc.
However, a seat for 2025 doesn’t seem to be any closer.
Rumours say he has been offered a drive at Williams as well as the newly formed Audi team.
Despite this, Sainz is holding out for a drive that can offer him immediate success. At 29 years of age, a long-term project may not be the best move.
This could even see the Spaniard take a year out of the sport with a view to taking a seat in 2025.
Credit: Ferrari
Sergio Perez may leave Red Bull and Alonso could decide to call it a day at any moment.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear path for him at the moment to get the drive he wants.
All he can do is keep churning out performances in his final season with Ferrari.
Hopefully, the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place for him soon.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.