Jurgen von Diaz wrote:denyall wrote:Jurgen von Diaz wrote:Too much is too much too soon. If it fails straight away at the Merc, it could mean the end of the career, like Vandoorne, who were super talented. Williams would be safe bet for Antonelli.
If Kimi is a talent, putting him at Williams puts Merc at a disadvantage, as all the other teams will see for themselves and it'll be open season to sign him.
Top teams got their seats filled. Pérez's seat would be the only one that could be possible for 2026. Does Merc have some strings in their hands that Antonelli couldn't lose to others just like that? They did put Russell in the shitbox Williams for three years, and nobody tried to steal him.
Three things:
Any team has the ability to buy out a driver in favor of another. No seat is safe, no contract is unchangeable. If Kimi proves to be the 2nd coming, some team that may very well be doing better than Merc may move mountains to get a talent like that locked up.
The GR and Merc situation was unique in that GR really really wanted to go to the top dominant team and Merc was at the time unbeatable year after year. I believe GR had other offers but held out for the Merc seat.
With Vowels growing Williams and moving out of Mercs shadow, I don't even know if Kimi to Williams is a viable option. Williams may very well announce Sainz/Albon and then what?