Shock mid-season F1 driver swap prospect explained
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- In-season F1 driver changes are always dramatic and represent a last resort. Williams are being heavily linked with dropping one of their current drivers for what could be a massive gamble to land a mega prospect for the next couple of years - if it works out.
The prospect of Williams dumping the embattled Logan Sargeant became an unfortunate talking point around the young American’s home race.
There were even suggestions that the Miami Grand Prix could be his last before being axed for a teenage rookie: Kimi Antonelli.
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Special request - but who from?
3:04 Why Sargeant's under fire
5:21 What Mercedes wants
8:21 When Antonelli move could happen
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#f12024 #f1 #formulaone #formula1 #williams #williamsf1 #kimiantonelli #antonelli #antonellif1 #logansargeant #f12025 #grandprix #therace #f1news #f1analysis #mercedes #mercedesf1 #totowolff - Sport
I would prefer to see Kimi proving himself in F2 first
Same here. He needs both 2024 and 2025 to prove himself in F2
Max didn't do F2 either and finished 3rd in F3.
So would Mercedes, according to Mercedes. It’s all BS.
He’s so undercooked, way to early to throw him in the deep-end and he’ll go before his time.
@@bzilla1090 true but it took him quite a while to iron out mistakes to get to where he is now. Fine then with no costcap but now it's not feasible with damage costs.
You guys really do be making 10 minute videos out of social media rumourmongering. Literally nothing has happened.
I’ll never get that 10 minutes back, but in the future I just won’t click.
I mean, it's their job...
Off season click bait is where this channel shines.
This is sport it's constant speculation. Almost 100% speculation until the match is being played, then 75% speculation even after(insert sporting event) is finished.
What kind of videos do you expect them to put out on non-racing weekends?
“If” … and IF Max Verstappen’s Mum had balls she would be his Dad. Nuff said.
Verstappen's joke still legendary obviously.😅
this comment is why max and his mum sophie have so much respect in the racing/karting world
Quick, but definitely an appropriate quote here.
Bro doesn't know what a prospect is ☠️
And if RB didn't put Max early in F1 he might have a different career. So why are people so bothered some other team wants to put one of their talents earlier than usual in F1?
F1 : literally no news and nothing announced.
The race:
We’re still talking about this? Mercedes and Williams both said it’s not happening. Serious twisting of words for the views.
Where there's smoke, there'll be fire. But my best bet it's for a FP1 outing.
@@baronvandedem3997 There is smoke. There is fire. And then there are those who try to start a fire by blowing into it, such as the case here.
@@whyareyoureadingmynickname8158 nah, Logan sucks so hard at being a F1 driver, Williams needs to get rid of him immediately.
@@baronvandedem3997That’s not smoke and fire, that’s steam off boiling water, i.e. completely normal and expected.
@@Leith_Crowther you need some kind of heat source to boil water. He’s out, maybe sooner than we expect. Don’t forget, this is formula 1 and everything can happen. We already had Lewis going to Ferrari, the Horndog files, Newey’s Red Bull exit. We must seriously expect the unexpected at this point.
From what I’ve heard Kimi isn’t really lighting the F2 field up.
The FIA should just say no to the exemption. Theres no reason to change the rules.
Needs another season
He's not been shit, but there's definitely a lot of drivers better than him in F2. People ironically now start blaming the team for poor setups, but the team in F2 has never ever been a talking point in history.
@@Pricelessmile I just think he needs to spend the whole of 2024 and the whole of 2025 in F2
It's mroe Prema being shit right now. Kimi scored 24 our of 26 points Prema collected.
That is definitely something to note
Just look at Bearman, teammate in F2 with the same horrible season start. It's Prema not up to speed yet.
Why would Williams bother to resign Logan if they are going to axe him within 7 races? Moreover, the car has been underwhelming, to put it mildly.
It's always a dilemma in F1 when the least experienced drivers have to demonstrate their skills by driving the worst cars.
The irony of this comment is that resign means the complete opposite of re-sign, which is the word you intended to use.
@@T_Mo271logan could be in the red bull and he’s still going to be in the bin
@@jkliao6486 It is not irony, it is grammar policing which I thought was eliminated back in the late 90s. LMAO
@@pikestance8851 Nope, resign vs re-sign is exception for that because of the complete opposite meaning of the word, that would completely change what you mean. If you write a comment and mistake re-sign for resign, you are the one who is responsible for any comments on that.
I saw a short interview with James Vowles, asking the question whether Logan would be replaced. Vowles was very clear that it was not his priority, as he wants to focus on the car instead. He deems the car to be much more of a pressing issue in order to start winning points.
Kimi: no podiums in F2
F2 champions without a seat: I'm a joke to you?
Thumbnail is a bit clickbaity 🤦🏻♂️ I thought it was officially announced.
This channel should be called THE RAG. They’re not really even news, just them whispering giggles and rumors.
He hasn't even scored a bloody F2 podium. Cool the jets.
Kimi isn’t exactly doing brilliantly in F2 though… no wonder Logan can’t get anywhere imagine his mindset with this endless assault from the media.
Most surprising was that Sargeant started at all this year.
Sargeant started all races this year?
Logan Sargent is a white american diversity hire
@@purwantiallan5089they didn’t say that
Williams didn’t really have much options
Logan is a diversity hire
The question is why they decided to continue with Sargeant in 2024.
I second this comment.
Money from his uncle. Kinda sad how Stroll and Zhou are called pay drivers, but not sargent. His money is even dirtier than Mazepins
@@dylanburston7453 so spill the dirt where does his uncles money come from I’m curious 🧐
Ham probably said he's leaving AFTER they signed Sargeant.
@@dylanburston7453 Supposedly he has never received money from his uncle which is why he had to go chasing sponsors for his junior career.
So no, that isn't true.
Bring Schumacher to Williams and give the guy another chance. Haas team and management were negative and rubbish for Shumis development.
if his name wasnt Schumacher, nobody would beg so much for him to on the grid.
@@aps1smaybe but he was completely screwed by haas everyone who followed haas has seen this
@@davidmaslenka5940 in what way? the fact they dropped him is not screwing him. he never did anything that super special.
@@aps1syeah and he never did anything that super bad. I know you‘ll say he crashed often, but even that isn’t true. He finished more races than Magnussen did in 2022.
@@vantageracingleague5084 so at best he was mediocre. i dont even think he crashed that much. Albon has had hes fair share of crashes and is still thought of highly. i just think that at best theres like 2 or 3 f1 drivers that are worse or on the same level as him. but theres also a few drivers that would push for a seat, that are probably better than him.
funny how wolf is looking for kimi but was quick to criticise Günther letting go of Schumacher as if he would offer him the seat
Williams doesn't have a driver problem this year, they have a car problem. In search of long term gains Williams has lost the 1 lap magic that Albon could extract in the past. Antonelli getting in a Williams this year will be good for his experience, but the hype around him will fall away because the car can't support the flashes of brilliance
A lot of teams have a car problem, it's the car with Magnuson in it.
The only reason Albon had those performances last year was the fact the straight line speed meant he could get into absurdly high positions and use DRS and the speed to prevent overtakes on the straights. With the cars being the way they are, overtaking in corners, something the Williams is weak at, is harder. This year they've made the car way more driveable and predictable at the cost of raw straight line speed. That's why Albon seems have to be underperforming, because he can't do those great defenses now since he's not able to get there in the first place.
@@jediporg1245 Do you suppose it was unwise for Williams to remove the strength of their car in favour of making it an all-rounder with no particular strength?
@@TassieLorenzo yes because a straight line speed demon will never truly compete and will be unforgiving for the drivers
If Kimi gets a seat before any of the other F2 champions the system is totally broken
It‘s already broken
Drugovich and Pourchaire are never going to get a seat, they are 3rd year champions.
Albon straight lines the chicane in Miami. Literally every British commentator/analyst: "Albon had his best lap deleted".
Love the fact that everyone dunks on VCARB, for being so close to Red bull, yet when this stuff around Williams comes up- crickets..
Well said
Not happening
Still think Williams isn’t a Mercedes B-Team?
The bottom line is that 17 is too young. If something bad were to happen to him, the entire sport would look very bad indeed.
Max Verstappen has entered the chat
@@I.J.1981. Max is also the reason for the current superlicence rules :)
Talent is what defines if they're ready. F1 should be meritocratic
@@twhiteofrd_1102it never has been and it never will be
Drivers can be (and are) tragically killed in Formula 2 and Formula 3 too, notably Hubert. That argument doesn't make sense. If anything, Formula 2 and Formula 3 are more dangerous as they are entirely full of overly ambitious teenage drivers. It's not like a Formula 2 is exactly slow! It's the same speed on a road course as an Indycar, yet it is OK for 17 year olds to drive F2 but not F1? Why?
f4 to f2 is a huge jump, let him at least get used to that before putting him in f1. it’s like they want him to fail, the reason logan sargeant struggles is because he joined before he was ready, but somehow they’re fully prepared to make that mistake again
OR Sargeant is not that good...
He raced F3 Euro, which is only a little slower then F3, but yeah, it's too much. He doesn't have anywhere near the accolades of 15 year old Verstappen when he jumped to F1. He's simply not that impressive, and all the hype around him is purely because he's Italian. If he was French, you'd literally never have heard his name.
Logan just got 10th in Miami sprint and he’s caused less damage to his car than Alex. Not to mention the latest Logan crash was caused by kmag. I think the Williams car is to blame for no points so far this year by either driver.
Doesn’t matter mick got screwed the same way
Is Logan the best the USA could come up with?
Newgarden is the best American driver, but hes too old Already.
For the future Jak Crawford have more potential that Sargeant, but he isnt that great either
hahaha this isn't the olympics, buddy
Best *pay* driver 😂😂
There are plenty of non pay drivers that would love a chance, but you know why they won't, MONEY
you say “his best lap was disqualified” as if cutting a corner should have been allowed?
Kimi skipped F3 so he NEEDS a full F2 season as a stepping stone. There is no way he drives an F1 car this year. However a friday practice licence I can see though.
I will go as far as saying he NEEDS *TWO* full F2 seasons as a stepping stone.
a lot of contradicting statements in this video. But it seems that it is more likely that the enquire may have been an enquiry for a FP drive.
Vowles stated categorically that Kimi “won’t be in the 2024 car”
Starting to lose faith in this channel
we should report the video to youtube for spam and misleading content
Why all the headwinds against the American driver? We all know he’s been dealt some crappy situations this year that were purely out of his control.
I think that the problem is that he's slow, really slow. Biggest pace differential between drivers of any of the team combinations last season AND this season, that kinda sums it up. Stroll is closer to Alonso than Sargeant is to Albon, by some distance. You put a border collie in the other car and it'd probably beat him in qualy 24-0. That's why it's a problem.
Good content per usual
Albon has more experience in F1 and hasn’t done anything in a Williams but Logan gets treated like shit?? Interesting
I suspect this is a Friday practice request, it’s surely better to see how he gets on in a full F2 season.
Thanks for these news.
Mercedes and Williams need drivers who can develop a car. I can see an established driver filling both those seats over a young prospect with no experience.
Williams kind of did Sergeant dirty, but Kimi is now the new hotness so you'd expect them to try and nab him.
@TimiAkintoye-wb5yt that's not the point. The simple fact is they promoted him too fast, and this years car sucks balls. Opportunities aren't really opportunities when you're unprepared and given unusable tools.
@TimiAkintoye-wb5yt He really didn't. Last year the car was terribly unpredictable, even Albon said so. And if you are a rookie who got rushed in and don't know how to handle that sort of a car, you're not gonna be doing wonders and crashing, which lowers morale and gets people shitting on you, which lowers morale and leads to you not taking risks and becoming anonymous. Out of 8 DNFs, only 3 have been Sargent's fault, 2 being crashes and 1 being Qatar's heat issue. Its just that Williams doesn't have the car for a rookie to be good in and the cost cap means crashes are punishing and rookies can't take chances like Verstappen used to in his early career for fear they'll be stuck with an unupgraded car like Logan was for most of last season. Still had less of a gap to Albon than Stroll had to Alonso in a literally worse car btw. So idk if you guys are watching the same races as me but given the fact 4 of the 6 races got fucked due to circumstances out of his control and last year was a shitshow of its own, I don't see these chances Logan's had to prove himself anywhere in the room with us.
@@jediporg1245 "Its just that Williams doesn't have the car for a rookie to be good in" It seems doubtful in the extreme that a quality rookie like Russell or Leclerc would be as bad as Sergeant. Vandoorne was more impressive than Sergeant overall, yet was still turfed out of Formula One after two seasons based on comparing poorly to Alonso for instance! The only comparison that can be drawn is to Albon, to whom Sergeant doesn't seem very good.
"Less of gap than ... Stroll had to Alonso" Relevance? Vandoorne had a smaller gap than that to Alonso and was removed from F1 never to return. Aston Martin Racing has a different criterion for choosing drivers, lol.
The notions rookies can't do well at Williams doesn't make sense. In the past, Russell was the rookie and Kubica was the veteran -- yet Russell was the lead Williams driver. How come Russell can do well at Williams as a rookie but Sergeant not?!
If Sargeant becomes World Driver's Champion in the future I will have to eat my words, but IMO by far the simplest explanation is that Sargaent is nowhere near as good as the Russells and Leclercs, and isn't even as good as the journeymen of the grid like your Albons and Gaslys.
"And if you are a rookie who got rushed in and don't know how to handle that sort of a car" Surely a quality driver like a Verstappen or a Russell can handle any kind of car, no matter how difficult it's handling characteristics?!
do a video on how George Russel is weaker than Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, and Alex Albon.
He is?
@@soundscape26I mean mostly except for Albon and you could maybe compare Sainz just maybe
Ahh yessss on aston martin
1. Chadlonso
2. TBC (lance stroll)
What a day 😂
I'm not even American, but I love Logan. He has good personality, and I think he has skill, but couldn't show because of mistake.
I want to see him least full 3 year like Yuki. Yuki was crashed alot in first and half of the second season but on 3rd hear5, he grew up and became fast
I think the FIA just know that drama sells. There isn't anything behind this. Kimi is still finding his feat in F2. Jumping to F1 at this point might be a negative more than a positive. Logans been bad, for sure.....but replacing his with Kimi now just doesn't have anything tangible behind it. This is a nothing story imo right now.
I don't see how this would benefit Williams. Their driver strategy has been a losing one for many years. The money they lose from Sargeant they may gain from Antonelli. Williams end up being the teacher for another teams driver and have to start again when he leaves.
Williams would be better off with the increased money from a higher championship placing that a more mature driver can bring.
Throwing a big, long term contract at Carlos Saintz (eg $150M 5years) would be a positive move for the whole team to push for more speed.
At $10 million per place just for prizemoney, it is worth it.
If the super licence is granted it will show further eurocentric thinking from F1. Another nail in the coffin of their claims and "reputation" for fairness.
These guys play loose and fast with definitions. You are right imminent does not mean early, but it means anytime soon. So toto probably meant that he won’t be in F1 anytime soon.
Vowles has confirmed that Kimi will NOT be in the seat for Imola.
They (williams teamboss) already said in interview that they will not change drivers... how much more official does it need to be ?
I would seriously question the integrity and credibility of Williams and Mercedes if they replaced Logan mid-season. Firstly, I thought Williams positioned themselves to not be Mercedes's B Team. Vowles presents the team in such an independent and upstanding manner. This move would shatter that perspective completely. Secondly, let Antonelli grow up and learn in F2. In my eyes, he doesn't exactly equal Max in his 'F1-readiness' back when he got into Toro Rosso. I think he'd be burnt at Williams at this stage. What if he even struggles in a similar way like Logan? The current and next couple Williams cars are no pre-2022 Mercedes.
I hate that these driver swaps are becoming more and more common. They are reckless and just show that a team is incompetent in signing the right talent and standing up to their own decisions. The way Williams has treated Logan so far this season shows he is worth nothing to the team. Sure, he underperforms. But that is literally what he stood for before 24. So they went with him and were totally aware he'd need some development and help from the team, the same way Tsunoda received support. I'm not saying Logan is a Tsunoda. But you have to think about it this way when managing drivers.
It's kind of a big mess, to be honest..
The problem is Sargeant just aint quick enough, end of
There is just really nothing happening in F1. And people loosing their minds. 😅
How is a new driver coming in and an existing driver going out a "swap"? Bringing Zhou to Williams and sending Sargent to Sauber until the end of the season would be a swap. Do they watch other sports? To me a swap or trade is 2 active athletes switching teams.
I mean this isn't news anyway ("might be weeks, might be months, could be summer break, could be Monza, could be never") and Antonelli isn't even an F1 driver, he's too young and has no super licence.
I also predict that Kimi Antonelli will drive in F1 (could be in testing as the mandated young driver, could be in FP1, could be in an actual race) at some point (could be weeks, months or years). Come back in the future to see how right I was.
They already said it's not happening. Both Wolff as well as Vowles.
With the FIAs current time scale of making decisions Kimi will be 25 before they give an answer
a bit off topic but older f1 cars in current livery looks oddly good
Except for "prospect explained", this was close to click-bait The Race..
don't take a drink every time you hear an if, but, maybe, or unless.
I don't understand the reason for a mid-seasin driver change. If Alex is Logan's measuring stick; has Alex been that much more impressive than Logan this year? But, it you are going to replace Logan, then replace him with someone from your driver academy. Let Toto figure out his Antonelli mess on his own.
Must be frustrating to be in a team's driver academy and then get bypassed by someone's pet project driver.
Will any indycar drivers be allowed in F1. Palou and O’ward are both reserve drivers and absolutely talented enough but kept seemingly getting screwed
Logan shouldnt have been taken on by Williams this year, but they couldnt afford to pay for anyone else 😂
But this year it's albon who has done the most damage
Out of the question. One exemption means exemptions forever. FIA would be quite idiotic if it accepted it.
2:20 it's a bit worrying that he can't balance on one leg. That's a test they have for ordinary over-65s to show slowing of balance...
Funny how “independent” Williams are getting yet another Mercedes driver. Strange seeing how Wolff demands no collaboration between two teams. But the Vowles is a Mercedes puppet anyway. Who drives for Williams should have nothing to do with Mercedes at all. Williams would be better taking both Sauber drivers next year and dumping Albion seeing as he crashes so often.
2:20 Shouldn't an elite driver's balance be better than this?
I don't think he'll have a drive in a competitive session of F1 this season
I'm surprised Mick doesn't get more of a shot at that Williams seat.
Same thoughts he is insanely good as a driver even tho the wec results don’t show how quick he is
Given that every decision the FIA has made in recent times has been worthless, I fully expect they'll give Williams/Merc the go ahead to rush this child into F1 before he's even half baked and ruin his career. It's insane.
sargeant had a good weekend in miami
It's funny how bothered some people seem with this idea, when the current world champion was able to show his talent and land a seat in RB by entering early in the sport. Max didn't do F2 and had less titles and his overall performance was worse than Antonelli's. But now people are like "no, don't do it, he should stay in F2 for 2024 and 2025". Is it because he's a Mercedes driver? Because it sure looks like the usual Mercedes hate their drivers have been receiving in the last 10 years. For example Russell in Williams everyone was licking his boots, saying he was awesome, that Hamilton was super scared of him, that he was being blocked by Toto. Soon he became an official Mercedes driver, suddenly he was a villain, an arrogant posh kid, a British media puppet.
Now Antonelli is being considered because he's an unusual talent and suddenly... "Nope, he shouldn't join F1, no way, let him be in F2 for two more years, Max is different because... I don't know why, I just hate Mercedes, wait, I wasn't suppose to say that out loud, it's because I don't want Kimi to be burned or something like that". lol
his name isn't Kimi. his name is Andrea Antonelli - Kimi is a middle name. referring to him as Kimi is putting undue pressure on him
What I heared (from a Bulgarian news site that reports all news related to motorsport) is:
Mick during the Silvestone test had a different program compared to Kimi. Mick did 350 laps with full tank of gas and on hard tires.
And Kimi was with soft tires and with little fuel and run as much as he wanted...
In the end they could have not made any comparison between both drivers because there were running on different programs.
How legit is this I don't know or can tell!
Yeah I have geared the same mick was just there to set up the car for Antonelli unfortunately… would love to see mick back
@@davidmaslenka5940 I read that the test Mick did was in order for Merc to find a way to fix there tire deg (which is weird that they are testing it on the 2022 car)
Note: Yes I also would like to see Mick back on the grid!!!
Swap Sargent with Mick Schumacher, easy peasy
Give the kid a chance to develop… my god
why has it taken this long?
So Sargent is struggling because he was rushed into F1 to fast. So, lets do the same thing with Antonelli! 🤔
Not to mention kimi is in 9th in F1 right now. In order for kimi to do better than Logan did in F2 he would need to get above 4th in the championship.
Why is it a shock that a F1 Team changes driver mid season, it happens pretty often lately
Kimi should stay in F2 for a few seasons, it'd be a shame if he rises so fast only to fall just as quick due to the exceeding excessive demands of F1
Antonelli turns 18 on the day of the Dutch GP, so I expect him to be in the Williams at the Italian GP.
FIA created this rule because they want drivers to use the F4, F3, F2, F1 progression since they own these series and want money from it. Nothing to do with age. F1 teams are better at determining drivers than FIA will ever be.
sargeant hate is too much, he hasn't even finished his second season. unless he does a nyck de vries should he be let go and nyck's firing IMO was too early, but at least they could get Ricciardo. Willlaims have an super-hyped 17 year old who won't even have an F2 season under his belt
Antonelli debuting at Zandvoort? Now this could be real interesting for the future of Formula 1!
Yes Logan was 'thrown' into the seat, but, I don't think more time out of F1 would've made a difference. You see immediately if there is a foundation to be competitive in F1 e.g. Bearman. I think he'd do great in Indy and could possibly win that series, F1 is just such a different beast and I feel LS was never going to adapt.
Bearman has been floundering in F2 rn. Logan did fairly great. I think the crashes and being stuck with an upgraded and unpredictable car meant he had no confidence to really ever send it and everyone shitting on him and Albon wrangling that car into staying on track thanks to his experience leading to the team completely not putting any faith in him has just crushed his morale. Logan had an incredibly terrible hand dealt to him which has probably fucked over his career.
Why is he being so heavily promoted, when his results in F2 are so lacklustre?
What’s the agenda?
Panic by Toto….
because mercedes has a terrible driver academy and do not know who to choose after one of them is leaving. We saw it with nico, and its the same with lewis now.
since nobody wants to sign up for a 1 year place holder contract at Mercedes, they should swap Logan to Mercedes and Andrea to sign up at Williams for 2025
You guys remember when they wouldn't bend the rules as written for Colton Herta to get a super license? I remember and it's going to be exactly the same here.
What rubbish. If course a team might want him to do a couple of Fridays towards the end of the season.
I have to wonder: Why can't teams train their drivers as they see fit? The only take-away I get from this video is that the F1 system is so fouled up with red tape and regulations that it barely functions anymore.
Williams wants to give Antonelli a try in Canada.
Imola: too much pressure for an Italian.
Monaco: too much of a distraction for a Monao start.
Canada: perfect. And during a break in the F2 schedule.
I always find myself leaving this Chanel’s videos quarter way through, just rambling in circles about rumours for way to long
If it happens, then I love to see Antonelli vs Bearman in F1
The Mercedes idea for Max is wild, unless they get rid of Russell eventually it makes no sense.
Is everyone forgetting that Sargeant finish ahead of Albon in the Miami sprint?
And the really interesting thing is all these points that are holding Kimi up from getting into F1 this year....were because of Max and how he got into F1.
Even if Williams get Kimi AND he turns out to be good, that just puts williams in a shit posiiton, since their just going to lose him to Merc whenever Merc wants him, then they need a new driver and restart all over again. Its a crap position for them either way for such short term(maybe) gain. Though with Logan im sure it makes this that much easier of a thing to decide.
I read Joe Saward who writes that things have moved on and right now looks like Antonelli will drive for Mercedes next year, exciting 😁
How many ‘T’s can one man drop? Who did his media training?
9:18 where sergeant had a very Sergeant weekend
American sponsorship money is the only reason why Sergeant has a seat. Williams won’t be letting go of that lightly
While I understand the desire to try something new to gain ground in the Constructor's field, I don't forsee Wiliiams turning themselves around that much by adding a complete rookie halfway through the season. The car is just not there, the entire production and design process at Williams is in a serious rebuild period, and even Albon (who is widely considered a very competent driver) can't wrestle points out of the thing. The only people who would benefit from a move would really be Mercedes and Toto Wolff, who get someone else to pay for their evaluation of a potential signee. And, with Antonelli not lighting F2 on fire right now, I don't really see him making the jump and finding success right now. My opinion is stick with Sargeant and play out the season as you intended, hoping for improvements along the way, or replace him with a more seasoned F2 driver like Zane Maloney.
When will people stop milking this matter?
Toto already made clear during the Miami GP weekend that they haven't requested a dispensation (which wouldn't get handed anyway) & that they aren't going to rush with him, so still claiming otherwise is contradictory.
Additionally, people should remember that Sargeant is a clear-cut priority, so even a 2025 drive is literally his to lose rather than something he's guaranteed to lose in any case & as the Miami GP weekend as a whole was positive for him, pace-wise & otherwise (& not getting an end-result for the race wasn't even his fault, so irrelevant for the big picture), he'll definitely guarantee himself a third season if he can keep up an upward trend as the season progresses further.
All in all, Antonelli should've never even become part of silly season considerations in the first place, given his questionable readiness to even compete in F1 after a single F2 campaign, let alone during this season, so continuing in F2 for another year in any case (assuming he doesn't win the championship) would ultimately be the wisest resort for his career development.
Finally, even if Williams eventually wanted to replace Sargeant, they'd more likely & realistically offer someone like Bottas a drive, given his vast experience & past familiarity with the team as midfielders need two consistently performing drivers to maximize opportunities, so replacing Sargeant would make sense only if it were for a driver who'd definitely be an improvement from him & perform consistently alongside Albon, which Bottas would guarantee already beforehand, but someone like Antonelli not necessarily.
Even Zhou would be a comparatively safer option.
Finally, while Antonelli could theoretically participate in the Dutch GP race, this would only require practice participation as driving a practice session doesn't require an actual super license & is alone enough for race participation, even if not taking part in qualifying, but practically, Italian GP is the earliest viable.
However, an in-season change is equally still a pointless speculation, as Sargeant will most certainly see out the season in any case, & even more so if an upward trend remains.
Uhhh... Max Verstappen was seventeen and a half years old when he started racing for Toro Rosso in 2015 in the Australian Grand Prix. Did the age rules change since then?
Yes
Yes after Max, in 2016 they changed it to 18.