Explained: Why Williams opted against Mick Schumacher or Liam Lawson

Williams ignored Mick Schumacher and Liam Lawson for their midseason driver change.

Logan Sargeant has been axed from his F1 seat, between last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and this weekend’s round at Monza.

Franco Colapinto, from Williams driver academy, has got the nod to replace Sargeant as a full-time driver, alongside Alex Albon, for the rest of 2024.

Mercedes and Red Bull had put forward drivers from their own environments as suggestions to replace Sargeant.

“I would very much hope that Mick gets the chance, because we haven’t seen the real Mick,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff about their third driver.

Red Bull’s Christian Horner said about their reserve driver Lawson: “If they needed a driver next weekend, we’d be open to that.”

Williams boss James Vowles ran out of patience with Sargeant after his costly crash on Saturday at Zandvoort. His wrecked car could not be repaired in time for qualifying.

“Vowles spent the afternoon and evening making enquires with other teams,” to find a replacement for Monza a week later, F1.com reports.

The opportunity which eventually fell to Colapinto is for only nine races, because Williams have Albon and Carlos Sainz contracted for next year.

Why didn’t Williams pick Schumacher?

Schumacher was “never a frontrunner” to claim the last-gasp race drive with Williams, the same report states.

The relationship between Mercedes’ Wolff and ex-colleague Vowles might have smoothed over a return to the F1 grid for Schumacher, but instead Williams overlooked him.

Schumacher lost his Haas seat at the end of 2022 and has spent two seasons without a drive.

Last week, Alpine’s confirmation that they had chosen rookie Jack Doohan for their 2025 car was a major blow for the hopeful Schumacher.

He has now seen the possibility of nine races with Williams vanish.

The vacancy at Sauber - which will evolve into Audi - may still interest Schumacher, not least because of his German links to the mighty manufacturer.

Why didn’t Williams pick Lawson?

Lawson “wasn’t a possibility” due to the terms with which Red Bull were willing to loan him out, F1.com states.

Red Bull weren’t keen on letting Lawson go because he remains an option for them in 2024. Sergio Perez and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo remain under scrutiny.

It “wasn’t an option” for Red Bull to let Williams have Lawson for the rest of 2024 because it would weaken their own ranks.

Williams did not want to strike a deal which would have allowed Red Bull to take him back later this year, the same report claims.

Lawson’s future was a hot topic last weekend when Helmut Marko seemingly claimed that he was guaranteed a 2025 race drive within Red Bull or RB.

Horner later clarified that Marko meant a race drive on the F1 grid, not specifically with either of their teams.

But, the door to Williams has slammed shut.