Andrea ’Kimi’ Antonelli is being prepared for an imminent Formula 1 race debut.
Heading into the Miami GP weekend, rumours were already swirling that it will be struggling Williams driver Logan Sargeant’s last race for the team.
F2 rookie Antonelli is the protege of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who is famously close to Mercedes-powered Williams’ team principal James Vowles.
Vowles tried to play down the rumours in Miami.
"Let’s put it this way," he said. "I haven’t spoken to Kimi since Abu Dhabi last year. Hopefully that puts it in context."
Antonelli has been testing older Mercedes F1 cars recently - at the Red Bull Ring (the 2021 car) and more recently at Imola (the 2022 car).
It now emerges that a team, believed to be Williams, has submitted a request to the FIA for special dispensation so that Antonelli can secure his F1 super license prior to his 18th birthday in August.
The implication is that he could replace Sargeant at Imola in two weeks.
"We have received the (super license) request and there is a procedure that must be followed for any possible change of the rules," an FIA spokesperson told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Vowles doesn’t deny that Antonelli could be in Sargeant’s car later this year.
"We are looking, as everyone else is, for where we want to be on driver lineup for next year and we have our own young driver program," he said.
"In the case of him coming into the car this year, I’ve always said from the beginning, it’s a meritocracy. Logan has to earn his seat," Vowles warned.
"At the moment, he (Sargeant) has some tough targets where he has to get much closer to Alex (Albon)."