Race-winning F1 driver “available at any time” if Mercedes want to replace Kimi Antonelli

Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has revealed that Carlos Sainz “would be available at any time” to Mercedes if they wanted to replace Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli has struggled during his rookie F1 season, scoring points in just three of the last 10 races.

Antonelli has yet to out-qualify Mercedes teammate George Russell in grand prix qualifying.

The Italian’s recent weekends have been littered with mistakes, overshadowing some promising pace.

Antonelli punted Charles Leclerc out of the Dutch Grand Prix at Turn 3, picking up a penalty as a result.

The rookie was handed a second time penalty for speeding, ruining his chances of scoring points.

At Monza, he beached his Mercedes in practice, putting him on the back foot for qualifying.

A slow start and mediocre race pace meant Antonelli was overtaken by Williams’ Alex Albon late on.

He also received a five-second time penalty for dangerous defending when battling Albon.

Sainz “available at any time”

Sainz is currently at Williams after losing his Ferrari drive at the end of last year to Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard sits in 18th in the drivers’ championship, scoring just 16 points.

Conversely, teammate Alex Albon sits ahead of Antonelli in the standings, on 70 points.

While Sainz has picked up his performances in recent races, he’s failed to come home with big points hauls due to various incidents.

The gap in points between Albon and Sainz isn’t a true reflection of their performance, however it’s clear the former has been Williams’ most impressive driver in 2025.

Speaking on the Formel 1 YouTube channel, Schumacher hinted that there are clauses in Sainz’s contract that would allow him to leave Williams if Mercedes were interested in signing him.

“Well, a rookie for Mercedes is fine anyway, let’s say now in the season where they were and in this development phase, you can do that.

“But I agree with you, there’s nobody big on the market at the moment where you’d say, I absolutely have to have him now, most of them are all sorted.

“And obviously, Toto Wolff doesn’t think much of Bottas, otherwise he would have kept him. You have to say that, sorry about that.

“So it’s difficult. Yes, the George Russell issue is a bit surprising, but maybe there’ll be a twist at some point, the punchline as to why they’re waiting so long, because I think Mercedes must be happy to have him by now, but there’s no alternative.

“So, they have to see it through for another year, and then they’ll have to see how things go.

“I think Carlos Sainz would be available at any time. I mean, there seem to be some clauses, I don’t know exactly, at least that’s what you hear. He would certainly be the first person that comes to mind.”