Williams boss addresses Sainz exit clause – James Vowles has finally got his man Carlos Sainz. The Williams boss changed his tune at the Canadian Grand Prix from ‘we’re talking to a number of drivers’ to “Sainz is Williams number one target.”

The Williams team principal together with commercial director James Bayer have been persistently spreading the ‘good news’ of the huge Williams inward investment and a vision of a future for the third oldest F1 team – which is bright.

Part of that renewal process was to cut the dependency of the team on pay drivers like Logan Sargeant and Nicolas Latifi before him. Bayer told Bloomberg in June that the team’s sponsorship roster was now full and the team had more than sufficient funding to spend up to the cost cap limited regulated for by the FIA.

 

 

 

Williams upward trend

Compare this to Sauber/Audi who have just sacked the F1 project leaders for infighting and installed Mattia Binotto instead. Then there’s Alpine, who despite claiming they will run with Mercedes power units going forward, have the chaotic Bruno Famin as team boss and recently Flavio Briatore parachuted in to help as a ‘consultant.’

When viewed in such simple terms, the choice for Carlos Sainz was not so difficult. Of course the Spaniard was hanging in there should Red Bull ditch Sergio Perez or Mercedes decide to recruit him for a year while their junior protégé – Kimi Antonelli – was being blooded in F1 elsewhere.

The decision to join Williams was announced by both the team and the driver just hours before Red Bull confirmed Sergio Perez would remain at Red Bull following the summer break. As yet Mercedes are to announce the replacement for Lewis Hamilton as Toto Wolff continues to asses the young Italians progress.

Sainz move made even more sense when it was reported that he had an exit clause to leave for wither Red Bull or Mercedes – should they come calling before the start of 2025. This of course is yet possible given Perez’s results may not improve and as the battle for the constructors’ title ever more tightens Christian Horner et al will be under increasing pressure to make a change to improve the results.

Sargeant SLAMS Ericsson for spreading ‘false rumours’

 

 

 

Ricciardo hopes dashed

It seems Ricciardo is no longer destined to regain his seat at Red Bull Racing given the moment would have been now to see if the Aussie could repeat some his past glories with the team. With ten races of the year remaining the thorny issue that is Daniel Ricciardo could have been solved one way or the other.

Yet this is not the path Red Bull are now treading, but there remains a glimmer of hope for Sainz, that the F1 world champions may revisit their decision as the season draws to a close.

Mercedes are taking a huge risk by introducing Kimi Antonelli into F1 with so little experience. Since leaving karting in 2020, Antonelli competed for two seasons in Italian F4 before being thrust into the international limelight with the Prema team in this seasons F2 championship.

Even Max Verstappen whose rise to Formula One was meteoric spent more time between leaving karting and joining the top table of motorsport. Yet herein lies the key to Toto Wolff’s nigh on obsession with the young Italian – he had been offered the young Max as a Mercedes academy driver and turned him down.  He does not want to make the same mistake with Antonelli.

Hamilton blames Mercedes

 

 

 

Vowles not categoric over exit clause

Yet there is no glide path for the young Italian. Verstappen spent time at Toro Rosso before being thrust into the limelight in a team capable of winning championships.

Which is why the report of a Sainz exit clause should Mercedes come calling makes complete sense. Yet James Vowles is seeking to quash this notion as claimed by nl.motorsport.com.

Williams announced Sainz’s impending arrival on Monday and that it was a multi-year contract means the Spaniard will be there into 2026 and beyond. Yet Vowles attempted to deflect discussions over exit clauses, but did not deny it outright.

“There are only a handful of people in the world who know what we are talking about,” Vowles said. “It’s not even inside the team. And it’s certainly not journalists outside our motorhome.”

Mercedes ‘cheating’? Russell DSQ

 

 

 

Sargeant told to keep ‘earning his place’

Of course talk of the exit clause could easily have been leaked confidentially by the Spaniard’s management team which makes Vowles denial less convincing.

And to the matter of Logan Sargeant, the Williams team boss didn’t rule out a driver switch alongside Alex Albon before the end of the year. “I think what I’ve said before is this: earn your place. And in Silverstone and Budapest, he earned his place,” Vowles told formu1a.uno ahead of the Belgium Grand Prix.

“What I don’t want is to sit here and say Logan absolutely has a place nailed forever in this situation. Earn it, as I have to earn my job, as Alex has to earn his job at the same time,” added Vowles.

And should the decision be made to ditch Logan, the Williams boss indicates it will not be for an Antonelli ‘try out’, but more likely for an experienced driver.

F1 testing shootout for Ricciardo and Lawson

 

 

 

Vowles denies Wolff pushed Antonelli

“Toto isn’t pushing him towards me,” he said of Antonelli. “And my perspective, as I said before, is I’d much rather give Logan every opportunity to succeed, and be an ongoing professional racing driver.

“Where I’m balancing, and the reason why I said not an absolute yes to [Logan staying], is when we make this car faster, and we will make it faster, I have a responsibility to finish as high up in the championship as possible.

“And if he delivers, brilliant. If he doesn’t, then I need to reconsider my options.”

Whilst Kimi Antonelli is a huge talent, his F2 results don’t scream F1 potential yet. The Italian won his first F2 feature race in Hungary this year and currently sits seventh in the title race with 87 points to leader Isaac Hadjar’s 165.

Red Bull SHOCK decision over Sergio Perez

 

 

 

Antonelli lacks consistency

The lack of consistency will concern Toto Wolff at present given in 20 rounds of F2 this year, Kimi has failed to score in 10. The if you take away the points for winning in Hungary, Antonelli has averaged just three points a round across the other nineteen outings.

That said, Oliver Bearman is hardly having a stellar year as Antonelli’s team mate, but the British driver has secured himself an F1 seat with Haas F1 next season. Bearman is P15 in F2 and has scored just 34 points all year.

As Dr. Marko said of Bearman, “he was in the right place at the right time” to deputise for the stricken Carlos Sainz in Jeddah and his P7 in the Ferrari secured his path into Formula One.

This is why Sainz joined Williams

 

 

 

Ricciardo dealt a HUGE blow

Daniel Ricciardo’s bid to return to Red Bull Racing’s senior team has suffered a major setback. Sergio Perez, despite recent struggles with form, has been confirmed to retain his seat alongside Max Verstappen, at least for the foreseeable future.

Since May, Perez’s performance has been under scrutiny and his future at Red Bull was uncertain, particularly after a challenging Belgian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton won at Spa-Francorchamps and Perez finished seventh, unable to keep pace with the leading Mercedes and McLaren cars. Verstappen, who started from 11th due to a grid penalty, finished fourth… READ MORE