MIAMI - Williams has denied rumours it will replace American driver Logan Sargeant at F1's next race, although the process to find his long-term replacement has already started.
F1 sophomore Sargeant looks to be in an increasingly perilous position at Williams due to his poor form this year. The Floridan has arrived at his home race, the Miami Grand Prix, with growing speculation he could be replaced in two weeks time at Imola.
Williams boss James Vowles denied rumours that Mercedes' 17-year-old wonderkid junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace him, but said assessments are ongoing to see who will partner Sargeant's teammate Alex Albon.
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"There was a rumour going around that he'll be in the car from Imola -- he won't be in the car for Imola," Vowles told F1 TV.
"What we're doing at the moment is evaluating drivers for 2026 and 2025, and what we really want is the right driver pairing for those two years as when you go through a regulation changes you don't want to be changing drivers, so you're looking for the right pairing for that period of time.
"There's no doubt that he's got huge skill to him, but he was in a F4 car 20 months ago, that's where he is, it's a very different proposition to most. We've been talking to four or five drivers at the moment for that period of time.
"I'm quite happy to sit back a little bit and wait, more so than that, I have a duty and responsibility to make this car faster first, because Alex is a championship level driver, we've got to provide the right car for him to be behind him and we haven't yet, and then that typically unlocks other possibilities in the future."
The FIA has confirmed they have received a request from one team to run a driver before his 18th birthday, which is currently not allowed in the regulations, but did not comment which team was from or which driver it related to.
Antonelli is currently racing in F1 feeder series Formula Two for the PREMA team, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has also not ruled out Antonelli replacing Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton next year.