As the season has progressed, Carlos Sainz finds his options diluting as he waits to decide on his F1 future. After being let go by Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton, the #55 driver was hopeful of landing a seat at Red Bull or Mercedes. However, Sergio Perez closed that door with this two-year contract extension with the Bulls.
Toto Wolff, too, had seemingly shut the doors at Brackley. But, the waiting game meant that Sainz missed the deadline to reply to Audi. Now, it is being reported that Sainz has also missed his deadline to respond to Williams’ offer with Wolff reigniting hopes of landing a Mercedes seat.
Auto Motor und Sport (as reported on X (formerly Twitter) suggests, “Apparently Toto Wolff is giving him [Sainz] hopes for a Mercedes seat now. The chance of Verstappen joining is very low now and Antonelli is having difficulties in F2, hence they start to think that F1 next year would be too early for him.”
#AMuS also reports that Carlos let another Williams deadline pass.
He also has a contract offer from Alpine to say yes or no.But apparently Toto Wolff is giving him hopes for a Mercedes seat now.
The chance of Verstappen joining is very low now and Antonelli is having…— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) July 5, 2024
This development in the driver’s market emerges as Sainz already had two offers on his table. With him missing out on Williams already, Alpine is the only team with a solid proposal for the Spanish racing ace to consider.
The logic behind Wolff’s change of stance has been reported to be the lukewarm performances Antonelli has delivered so far in his rookie season in the Formula 2 world championship.
Is Kimi Antonelli overhyped?
There was a lot of hype around the 17-year-old Italian racing prodigy at the start of the year. However, his results in the F2 championship have not inspired much confidence in Wolff. After 14 races, he has failed to win a race and sits ninth in the championship with only 48 points to his name.
Wolff had predicted a tough time for the Mercedes junior driver in light of the rumors surrounding his blockbuster F1 debut next year. RacingNews365 had quoted the Austrian as saying, “So many stories were created, and it doesn’t do him any favours because he needs to concentrate on his F2 campaign.”
With Antonelli seemingly not ready to jump into F1 just yet, Sainz could be a formidable mid-term option for the Silver Arrows to climb their way back to the top of the Formula 1 grid.