Mercedes workforce boss Toto Wolff does not rule out the opportunity of signing three-time world champion Max Verstappen as a substitute of Lewis Hamilton, however he admited that there’s solely a slight likelihood for that to occur.
Ferrari made a shock announcement at the beginning of February, confirming the arrival of Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion was going to race for Mercedes till no less than the tip of the 2025 F1 season, however he activated an exit clause that allowed him to go away the Brackley-based outfit the place he secured six of his seven F1 world titles.
Since the announcement of Hamilton’s departure, Mercedes has been looking for one of the best substitute for the seven-time world champion. Although Carlos Sainz, who has to go away Ferrari due to Hamilton’s arrival, was talked about on a number of events, the Spaniard has already signed at Williams for the following two years.
The most evident selection as a substitute appears to be like Italian F2 sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been within the Mercedes’ junior driver academy for a number of years.
Mercedes team-boss Toto Wolff confirmed that the 17-year-old Italian is his first candidate for the second seat alongside George Russell.
“The criteria for our next driver are simple: we want the best available. At the moment, my first option is Kimi Antonelli.”
Expanding on Antonelli’s expertise, Wolff mentioned: “Of course there are dangers. It’s not a lot about his expertise as a driver, however Antonelli can be uncovered to the media and the talent of George Russell, who is without doubt one of the finest drivers on the grid.
“But Kimi has huge potential. His speed and talent are already at a certain level; he just lacks the experience.”
Wolff is conscious of the truth that Antonelli will want a while to rise up to hurry and achieve expertise if he finds his means into Formula One.
“If you look at Piastri’s progress, it took him a year and a half to compete for victory at the level of teammate Lando Norris. We want to try to do the same with Kimi. In 2025, with the 2026 changes, we’ll still be in transition, so it’s a good season to train him on our team.”
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has additionally been talked about as a shock substitute for Hamilton. Although the Dutchman has a multi-year contract with Red Bull, inside turmoil has led to instability contained in the Milton Keynes-headquartered outfit which fuelled hypothesis about Verstappen’s attainable shock departure.
Although Red Bull has confimed that Verstappen will stick with the Austro-British outfit, Wolff does not rule out the opportunity of he Dutchman becoming a member of Mercedes.
“An alternative scenario is of course Verstappen, but at the moment it doesn’t seem realistic to me. I will continue to observe the market. I’m not sure how the situation will evolve at Red Bull,” concluded Wolff.
Source link
