Mercedes and Red Bull would be prepared to loan out a driver to Williams should it choose to replace Logan Sargeant prior to the 2024 Formula 1 season concluding.
Williams boss James Vowles has been insistent that Sargeant, who will lose his place to Carlos Sainz next term, is not guaranteed to complete the current campaign.
Sargeant ended up in the spotlight for the wrong reasons at Zandvoort as he sustained a huge crash in FP3 on a weekend when Williams brought extensive upgrades.
The American’s latest shunt has prompted speculation that Vowles has started courting potential interim alternatives as he has lost patience with his outgoing driver.
One name that has been touted with a potential mid-season swap has been Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson, who thrived when he stepped in at AlphaTauri last season.
Lawson is in the running for a permanent drive with the Red Bull stable, but boss Christian Horner has admitted it would be willing to sanction a short-term departure.
“Depend on which terms and if we needed him back that we could have him back quite quickly,” Horner told media including Motorsport Week.
“But we’d certainly… if they needed a driver next weekend, we’d be open to that. But that’s a Williams question rather than one for us.”
Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher, who has missed out on a possible Alpine seat to Jack Doohan in 2025, is also considered a viable candidate that Vowles is evaluating.
Schumacher hasn’t competed in F1 since Haas dropped him at the end of 2022, but the German has remained in the series in a reserve role with Mercedes ever since.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has expressed that Schumacher deserves another chance in the sport as he also divulged that he would be open to doing a deal.
“I would very much hope that Mick gets the chance, because we haven’t seen the real Mick,” Wolff stated.
“You’re not winning F4, F3 and F2 and then you’re not performing in F1… I think he deserves a chance.
“If the opportunity would be at Williams it’s something that we would be cheering for. But it’s James Vowles’s decision.”
However, Wolff has ruled out Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is set to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025, being an option to make his F1 debut this term.
“Between James Vowles and myself, we have a super transparent… Transparent discussions and relationship,” he added.
“James was part of developing Kimi and finding Kimi. I think what’s best for him is to continue the programme as we have decided, with the TPC [Testing of Previous Car] testing and F2, and see how that goes, rather than disrupting our plan and giving him the opportunity in a Williams. That’s the decision we have taken.”
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