Toto Wolff has revealed which driver is in the ‘strongest position’ to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
The Silver Arrows chief has a blockbuster decision to make in coming months with Hamilton, who has been with Mercedes since 2013, moving to Ferrari for 2025.
Carlos Sainz, the man who he will replace and winner of this season’s Australian GP, is an obvious candidate to go the other way and take Hamilton’s seat.
Max Verstappen would be the top choice in the event he departs Red Bull, while Fernando Alonso ate breakfast with Wolff in February, sparking the rumour mill.
Sebastian Vettel‘s name has also come up as he is an uncontracted four-time world champion.
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Toto Wolff has named the driver who is in the ‘strongest position’ to replace Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton is making the switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for the 2025 season and there is lots of speculation about who will fill the vacant seat
However, Toto Wolff has named Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a mere 17-year-old F2 driver, as the candidate in the ‘strongest position’.
‘[Antonelli] is definitely a very strong contender. I want to see how his F2 season develops, but we will wait and see what happens with some of the other drivers in F1. I don’t doubt his raw speed, talent and ability.
‘We wouldn’t have supported him from go-karting until now if we didn’t believe that he has the potential to go into F1 and do so with Mercedes. Many young drivers have shown in the past that you can do that step.
‘My feeling at the moment is that I don’t want to rush [the decision], because Kimi is part of the ideas for next year and is very much in the strongest position, and that’s why we don’t need to rush into any other decision.
‘Obviously, some of the other top drivers are going to make a decision on what to do soon, but there’s a feeling that points me in a direction not to take the decision too quickly.’
Antonelli may be an unfamiliar name to those who don’t follow motorsport, but he is making waves at the level below F1.
Mercedes’ 17-year-old protege who currently drives alongside Ferrari’s own wonder kid Oliver Bearman with the Formula 2 team Prema.
Antonelli is set to be handed his first experience in an Formula One car later this month as Mercedes look to prepare the the young Italian driver for a potential seat next year.
Wolff named Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been with Mercedes since he was 11, as the candidate
F2 driver Antonelli will have the chance to test a Mercedes at Imola later this month
‘We want to give him the feeling of what a really good car looks like. And then we are going to put him in the 2022 car to see what the difference is,’ Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told F1 TV at the Japanese Grand Prix.
‘I’m really keen and happy to see [Antonelli] in a F1 car. He’s been with us since he was 11.
‘I have a picture of him standing next to me on the center console as a baby boy in go karting and now to witness that development into a F1 driver is something that I’m really proud of.’
Antonelli will drive the Mercedes W12 – which Lewis Hamilton drove during the 2021 season where he infamously lost the chance to claim his 8th World Championship to Max Verstappen.
The two-day test will take place in Imola on April 16 and 17, with the teenager the looking to acclimatise himself to an F1 car as he aims to impress Mercedes.
