Kimi Antonelli was the subject of a special request from Williams earlier this month. James Vowles asked the FIA if he could drive their car before his 18th birthday.
Antonelli won’t reach that milestone until the end of August. And currently, FIA superlicence rules mean he’ll have to wait to drive in a Formula 1 session.
Initially, it was thought that Vowles wanted Williams to replace Logan Sargeant at the earliest opportunity. Sargeant has only scored one point since joining the team in 2023, compared to 27 for teammate Alex Albon.
Senior F1 figures said there was ‘next to no chance’ of the FIA making an exception to the rules for Antonelli. But that still opened up the possibility of the Italian entering the fray after the summer break.
As it turns out, though, Williams don’t want him to race full-time just yet. The youngster is only just starting out in Formula 2, after all.
Instead, they made their request so they could field him in an FP1 session. They want to see what he’s made of as they consider whether to offer him a 2025 seat.
James Vowles impressed by speed of Kimi Antonelli adaptation
Speaking in the team principals’ press conference at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday, Vowles shared his impressions of Antonelli. He’s spoken to the Mercedes engineers who are overseeing his private testing programme.
Having not driven in an F1 car before this year, he’s surprised them by looking comfortable within a couple of laps. Not only is he ‘very, very fast’, but he’s also consistent.
His feedback has been a strength too, which will no doubt be a key point of emphasis given his inexperience. Overall, Vowles says his former team have painted a picture of a ‘very promising’ talent.
“Well, I have had the great pleasure of listening to the engineers describe the interaction with him,” he said. “Just a young, enthusiastic driver, very, very fast, metronomic in his pace.
“Has not been in an F1 car until recently, but made it look like he’d been in one for ages within a lap or two. He came at this generation of cars, the ground effect cars, with an open mind.
“Yeah, he feels all the same things that you’d expect him to feel. But he’s not sort of polluted by the previous cars.
“So he just takes them as they are and tells us what he is feeling as weaknesses and strengths and lets the engineers work to try to improve those things. But he looks like a very promising young driver.”
Williams driver Logan Sargeant has already been ‘pre-fired’
It looks as if Sargeant may be safe until the end of the year. When the Antonelli rumours first emerged in Miami, he sounded relaxed about his future.
However, it’s difficult to see him continuing with the team in 2025. It has been, in truth, since the events of the Australian GP, when Vowles benched him after Albon severely damaged one of the team’s two available chassis.
One journalist believes that Sargeant has already been ‘pre-fired’. Williams might simply have been waiting for a driver like Antonelli to come along before they pulled the trigger.
The 23-year-old has already begun to assess alternative options as he tries to prolong his F1 career. His management have entered talks with Haas, who have a seat available after Nico Hulkenberg moved to Sauber.
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