Kimi Antonelli in Monza paddock @RacePictures

Antonelli's replacement discussed: 'He would be available at any time'

19:33, 16 Sep

Updated: 20:30, 16 Sep

byTobia Elia

Ralf Schumacher has urged Toto Wolff keeping a close eye on Carlos Sainz’s contract situation at Williams in light of Kimi Antonelli’s recent struggles.

Carlos Sainz at Monza. Photo: RacePictures

“I think Carlos Sainz would be available at any time''

- Ralf Schumacher

Speaking on Formule 1’s YouTube channel, the former German driver said: “I think Carlos Sainz would be available at any time. There seem to be some clauses, at least this is what you hear. He would certainly be the first person that comes to mind.”

He then added that fielding a rookie this season is still acceptable given that Mercedes is in a transition phase and not fighting for the title, but that the market currently doesn’t offer many strong alternatives.

''A rookie driver for Mercedes is fine anyway. Now in the season where they were and in this development phase, you can afford that.''

“There’s nobody big on the market at the moment where you would say 'I absolutely have to have him now', most of them are all sorted. Wolff doesn’t think much of Bottas, otherwise he would have kept him, so it's difficult.''

Wolff’s change in tone on Antonelli leaves Rosberg puzzled

What prompted Schumacher’s reflection was partly Toto Wolff’s comments after the Monza weekend, when the Austrian team principal criticized Antonelli’s performance as “underwhelming,” also stressing that another mistake like the one in FP2 couldn’t be allowed.

"Underwhelming this weekend. Underwhelming," he stressed twice when speaking with GPblog. "You can't put the car in the gravel bed and expect to be there. All of the race was underwhelming."

"It doesn't change anything on my support and confidence in his future because I believe he's going to be very, very, very good. But today was ... underwhelming."

Wolff’s words left Nico Rosberg stunned, as he said on the Sky F1 Show podcast that he was surprised by the change in tone toward the young Italian driver: "It's a surprising one, because at the moment the only choice you really have is just give Kimi the most time possible in the most calm way possible and that means also not not criticizing him publicly."

"This change of tone from Toto for the first time ever... usually there's a reason behind. Toto is very calculated in his comments. Perhaps he's wanting to put some pressure on Kimi and his family to try a different approach, modify their approach, review their approach."

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