Postponed announcements, the reason
On Thursday evening the F1 paddock was certain that last Friday would be animated by three ads. The first was related to the officialization of Flavio Briatore as Alpine consultant. The other two related to important segments of the drivers’ market. Sainz was ready to formalize the agreement with Williams and consequently Mercedes would have announced the arrival of Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside Russell in 2025.
Of these three announcements some have arrived only onethat of Briatore as Alpine consultant and it could have been precisely this announcement that blocked the other two without forgetting that Mercedes still dreams of Max Verstappen’s arrival in 2025 as Ola Kallenius and Toto Wolff reiterated.
Carlos Sainz, in fact, now not only has Audi/Sauber and Williams as potential destinations in 2025. To these has been added Alpine, which is negotiating Mercedes power units for 2026, a prospect that would align Alpine with Williams in the eyes of Carlos Sainz . What, however, could still make the difference in favor of Williams is the clause that James Vowles is ready to guarantee to the Spanish driver, i.e. being able to free himself when a seat in a top team such as Red Bull or Mercedes becomes available. For now everything is frozen, Alpine and Flavio Briatore have joined Audi/Sauber and Williams in the fight to secure Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. The Spanish rider declared in a press conference on Thursday that he wanted to decide soon to settle the issue relating to his future, but the situation is now even more fluid than a few days ago.
