When the double-waved yellow flags came out midway through the Miami Grand Prix, there was a groan from the crowd when they realised what had happened.
And while the event played a key role in Lando Norris achieving his first-ever Formula 1 win, it spelt the end of home town hero Logan Sargeant’s race.
The young Williams driver was the latest victim of some questionable driving from Kevin Magnussen and when the Danish driver failed to yield going into turn two, he hit the back of Sargeant’s car and sent him flying into the barriers.
The 23-year-old is undeniably under pressure right now, sitting at the bottom of the Drivers’ Championships.
Teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli could reportedly take his seat, but speaking on the On Track GP Podcast, pundit and racing driver Richard Bradley isn’t happy about that suggestion.
The Mercedes junior driver is already testing Formula 1 cars and is set to take on Mick Schumacher in a head-to-head showdown at Silverstone.
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Richard Bradley unhappy with Kimi Antonelli to Williams talk
Logan Sargeant was offered a second year in Formula 1 by team principal James Vowles after the 2023 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
He’s only got a single career point in F1 to his name, coming in another of home races in Austin last year.
Unfortunately, he’s failed to kick on as many would have hoped this year.
It means that every race where he doesn’t live up to the ‘surprise of the season’ tag Vowles demanded of him before the campaign began puts him under further pressure.
His 10-place finish in the Sprint Race in Miami raised some eyebrows, especially as he out-qualified teammate Alex Albon for the first time in his career albeit because the Thai driver’s last lap time was deleted.
However, there are still plenty of question marks right now and that’s where Kimi Antonelli comes into the equation.
The 17-year-old only has three race weekends at Formula 2 under his belt, but Mercedes are desperate for him to race in F1 sooner rather than later as they set him up to be Lewis Hamilton’s long-term successor.
Richard Bradley isn’t happy with the suggestion that Antonelli could turn out for Williams sooner rather than later.
He’s echoing the thoughts of Guenther Steiner who hasn’t been blown away by Antonelli from what he’s seen so far this season.
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Talking about the prospect of Antonelli replacing Sargeant at Williams, Bradley said: “Yeah I heard that it’s [his superlicense] has been granted and I’m really quite annoyed about this because it shows the politics within the sport.
“Yeah, because Colton Herta who legit qualified for a superlicense and if you remember they were trying to get him into what was then AlphaTauri now the RB two years ago and the FIA wouldn’t grant him a superlicense.
“So, he wasn’t able to go into it and that was someone who could legit qualify for one.
“And now you’ve got them bending the rules for somebody who hasn’t completed a full season in Formula 2 yet.
“I think that’s really…it’s a huge risk and I think you have to remember that there’s a very close relationship between Mercedes and Williams.
“Obviously, James Vowles used to be at Mercedes and the engine supplier and everything like that.
“I’m sure there are some incentives for Williams to be considering this but I think it’s very premature.”
Williams boss James Vowles has important Logan Sargeant decision to make
Bradley believes that Antonelli’s superlicense application has been accepted and while Williams would still need special dispensation to run him before his 18 birthday, it does bring him a step closer to a Formula 1 debut.
Antonelli reportedly ‘surprised everyone’ during his most recent performance in a Mercedes Formula 1 test.
The next step for the Italian would be to take part in an FP1 session to try and get to grips with the 2024 car.
Teams aren’t allowed to use this year’s or last year’s cars in behind-closed-doors tests meaning that Antonelli can get to grips with the first-generation of ground effect cars, but not the most up-to-date version.
At this stage, the question for Vowles is whether to back Sargeant to improve in the short-term or bring in Antonelli and gain a higher potential driver and the perks of doing Mercedes a favour.
With every difficult weekend the American experiences, the final decision becomes clearer.
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