Chinese Grand Prix: More competitive race for Williams.
The 2024 Chinese GP would see the Williams Racing Team again come away with another failure to score points but this race would see a more competitive performance.
13:29 Sun, 21 Apr 2024
By Williams Racing
WilliamsF1 Supporters

For Alex Albon he would finish in 12th so very close to points. For Logan Sargeant he would start the race from the pits after the team made changes to his car. His race would see him fight with other drivers in the initial stages of the race but he would drop down the order finishing in 17th.

Again both drivers would suffer from tyre degredation throughout the race which made any progress that much more difficult. For the team they feel that they are making progress which can only be a good thing.

‘More competitive race’;

https://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s107/st205869.htm


F1 Rumor: Mercedes to Loan Kimi Antonelli to Williams Prior to Mercedes Seat
Published Apr 24, 2024 at 9:00 PM
By Lydia Mee
Sports Contributing Writer
Newsweek

Mercedes is reportedly planning to place their young prodigy, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, in a Formula 1 seat with Williams as an interim step before joining the Brackley-based squad. This move comes as part of a development pathway for Antonelli, who is currently too young to qualify for an FIA super licence.

According to Formula One journalist Joe Saward, the 17-year-old Italian racer might soon find himself behind the wheel at Williams Racing on an 18-month loan stint, intended to groom him for a future Mercedes seat, as opposed to potentially taking over from Lewis Hamilton in the 2025 season.

Mercedes' interest in placing Antonelli directly into Hamilton's seat by 2025 underscores the high regard in which they hold their young driver. Antonelli has already been testing extensively in F1 machinery, including two days in the 2021 Mercedes W12 in Austria, followed by additional tests planned in the 2022 W13.

‘F1 Rumor’;

https://www.newsweek.com/sports/f1-r...3978?piano_t=1


F1 driver in danger of losing job because of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff
A decision made by Toto Wolff could cost one F1 driver his spot on the grid.
05:50, Thu, Apr 25, 2024
By Amos Murphy
Daily and Sunday Express

Formula One struggler Logan Sargeant is now at risk of losing his job because of a key decision made by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff. The German constructors continue to plot plans for Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, which could mean Sargaent is booted off the grid.

Mercedes team principal Wolff is said to want up-and-coming star Andrea Kimi Antonelli to join the Mercedes constructor, but not until he’s gained F1 experience elsewhere. One of the solutions Wolff and co. are currently looking at is signing Antonelli to Williams, before making the switch to Mercedes later in his racing career.

That’s according to F1 journalist Joe Saward, who claims that should Antonelli be signed to Mercedes, he’ll be loaned to Williams as a replacement for Sargeant as per GB Blog. While no timescale has been attached to this move yet, given Antonelli doesn’t turn 18 until August - and therefore isn’t currently eligible for a super licence - it’s likely to come at the end of the 2024 season.

‘Danger of losing job because of Mercedes boss’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...Kimi-Antonelli


Williams have now told journalist what they think about signing Kimi Antonelli in 2025
Thu 25 April 2024 11:00
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

Williams Racing appear to be one of the options for Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli to join the grid in 2025. The 17-year-old is competing in his first season in Formula 2 but Toto Wolff is already preparing him for a career in F1.

Speaking on the Autosport Podcast, journalist Alex Kalinauckas shared what he had heard from Williams in the paddock about the prospect of signing the teenager. Talking about Antonelli, Alex Kalinauckas said: “Mercedes’s preference, whether this happens for 2025, or 2026, or 2027 is that its highly-rated driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is promoted into Formula 1 and ideally Mercedes wants to do that for next year. This is a team that’s happy to wait to make its decision.”

Who else could replace Logan Sargeant at Williams? If Williams decide they want a more experienced driver than Mercedes junior Antonelli for 2025 despite being open to the move, then there are a few other options on the table. However, Kalinauckas believes Williams could potentially negotiate an engine discount should they bring Antonelli on board.

‘One of the options for Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/wil...nelli-in-2025/


Williams: Responsibility for Sargeant penalty in China ‘falls on us’
25/04/2024 at 15:09
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Williams team boss James Vowles says the British outfit must shoulder some of the blame for the penalty suffered by logan Sargeant in last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, insisting the onus falls on the team to provide better tools and information to prevent such incidents.

Unfortunately, replays showed that the German driver had crossed the line ahead of his rival, while Sargeant’s momentum had carried him past the Haas. This constituted an illegal overtake in the stewards’ book.

“It was a harsh penalty, when you see just matters of tenths translate into seconds, that’s difficult,” admitted Vowles in Williams’ post-race video debrief. “More so, it’s very difficult for the driver to adjudicate whether he was ahead or behind.”

‘Falls on us’;

https://f1i.com/news/506325-williams...all-on-us.html


Opinion: Williams need to be careful about replacing Sargeant
Should Williams stick it out with Logan Sargeant until the end of the season? If they choose not to, who should replace him?
11:04 Wed, 24 Apr 2024
Morgan Holiday
FormulaNerds

Williams obviously doesn’t trust him to be able to score points, given the situation in Australia when Alex Albon wrecked his own car and the team let him race in Sargeant’s for the weekend. Openly saying “We don’t trust you to perform” is hardly conducive to a healthy working relationship. Unless Sargeant improves drastically and soon, they’re going to be thinking about replacing him before his contract is up at the end of the year.

If Williams Racing wants to make the harsh (albeit, maybe necessary) decision to dump Sargeant mid-season, their priority needs to be choosing a driver they can trust to keep up with Albon and not make little mistakes. Why get rid of one driver only to get another one you can’t trust to do what Sargeant currently can’t?

It’s hard to get behind the idea of a team dropping their driver mid-season when they’re struggling to perform. It’s harsh and unfair. But motorsport is often harsh and rarely fair, so it would be hard to blame Williams if they choose to replace Sargeant before the end of 2024.

‘Why get rid of one driver only to get another one you can’t trust to do what Sargeant currently can’t?’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/opinion...cing-sargeant/


Williams could ask for ‘special dispensation’ to replace Logan Sargeant with ‘immense’ driver
Wed 24 April 2024 16:00
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Logan Sargeant’s Formula 1 career appears to be hanging by a thread. It’s only his second season in the sport, but it could be his last. Williams team principal James Vowles told the American that he had to be the ‘surprise’ of the year to retain his drive. That’s after he scored one point to Alex Albon’s 27 in his rookie year.

But the American has failed to produce any major improvement so far this term. While neither Williams driver has scored a point, Albon leads the qualifying head-to-head 4-0 and the race battle 3-1. Back in Australia, Vowles even decided to bench Sargeant after Albon caused significant damage to his own car in a practice shunt. Williams didn’t have a spare chassis, so they let the Thai driver jump in his teammate’s cockpit.

According to journalist Joe Saward, writing on his website, Williams might consider seeking ‘special dispensation’ to promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes junior doesn’t turn 18 until late August, which means he’s ineligible for a superlicence. Williams’ vision would be an 18-month deal for Antonelli, who would then likely graduate to Mercedes. They effectively ‘loaned’ George Russell for three years between 2019 and 2021 before he made the same step.

‘Special dispensation’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/wil...mmense-driver/