A Kimi Antonelli mid-season F1 debut at Williams will be a masterstroke for Mercedes

In the last few weeks, rumors have been rife that Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli could replace Logan Sargeant at Williams by Imola. Despite being vociferously denied by the likes of Toto Wolff and James Vowles, the rumors have not died down.

In fact, the much talked about Mick Schumacher-Kimi Antonelli private test was recently conducted by Mercedes, a way to judge where both of the drivers stand. Kimi is still a teenager. He has accumulated enough super license points, and while there are reports of an exemption being applied for, we are yet to know if that is actually happening.

Whether that happens or not is secondary, because the first thing one needs to identify is that the move could prove to be a masterstroke.

Kimi Antonelli has fared well against an already impressive Ollie Bearman

Ollie Bearman rocked up to the F1 paddock early in the year in Jeddah and surprised everyone with his performance in Ferrari. The young British driver impressed everyone with his composure but, most importantly, with the pace he had, as he finished ahead of both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

These results have certainly aged well as the year has progressed, with Norris now a race winner. By all means, Bearman will be in F1 next season, and Haas will be his home.

What if we told you that Bearman is teamed up with another young driver in F2 who's had the edge over him in the limited chances the two have had? Kimi Antonelli is the Ferrari junior's teammate at Prema in F2, and in the two events that the two have been together, the Mercedes junior has had the edge.

We have all seen how impressive Ollie Bearman is. This should tell you that Kimi Antonelli is at the very least capable of handling himself against a tough rival who has already debuted in F1. If there are any indications needed of how good Kimi is, his first 3 races in F2 do provide a few hints.

Gives Mercedes enough time to evaluate him

A mid-season swap gives Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes a decent time for evaluation. The young teenager will get enough time in an F1 car with an experienced benchmark on the other side.

Toto Wolff has a vacancy on his team that he has to fill for next season. During his time at Williams, Kimi will get a decent time to adapt himself to racing in F1 and get on board with some of the basic bits and bobs before he gets promoted to the big team.

To add to all of this, Mercedes gets enough time to gauge what it truly has in terms of talent and whether he's even ready to jump to the big team.

Max Verstappen is not coming to Mercedes(for now)

There's a reality that even Toto Wolff is aware of. Max Verstappen is not coming to Mercedes, at least in its current guise. Even though Toto continues to keep a brave face whenever he's questioned about the Dutch driver, deep down inside, he knows it's highly unlikely.

If Kimi Antonelli is as good as advertised, Toto Wolff will be looking to build the team around the youngster, just like Red Bull did with Max Verstappen. Wolff has to consider this a long-term project where Kimi grows with the team and continues to get better with time.

There's no downside to this

In all fairness, there's no downside to this. As young as Kimi is, he will put in a Williams with zero expectations. The worst-case scenario would be finding out that he's not yet ready to drive at the front of the grid. In that scenario, it makes the utmost sense to let him learn from an experienced head in Alex Albon, who will be in the other cockpit.

Performing in F2 is great, but nothing beats F1 experience. Kimi Antonelli can garner more and more of it by driving in a Williams and learning from Alex Albon. All in all, if Mercedes is looking to get the youngster into F1 in 2024, it is an aggressive but understandable decision that could prove to be a masterstroke