Toto Wolff lets slip his 'first option' to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes
Mercedes are not rushing to make a final decision over who will fill Lewis Hamilton's seat in 2025, but team principal Toto Wolff has made clear his top candidate for the place
Toto Wolff has admitted teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli is his "first option" to replace Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes need a new driver to partner George Russell from next year with the seven-time F1 champion headed to Ferrari. And, though Wolff has constantly said he won't be rushing into a decision, there has been one clear candidate all along.
Antonelli, still only 17, has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the junior ranks as a Mercedes-backed youngster. He is in the midst of his debut Formula Two season, having skipped Formula Three entirely - fast-tracked by the Silver Arrows who are convinced the Italian youngster has enormous potential.
In April, Wolff said Antonelli was the one in the "strongest position" to win Hamilton's soon-to-be-vacated seat. And in Belgium this weekend he made it clear that his view on that has not changed, telling Autosportwereld : "The criteria for our next driver are simple - we want the best driver available. At the moment, my first option is Kimi Antonelli.
"Of course, there are risks. They are not so much in his talent as a driver, but Antonelli would be exposed to the media and to the skills of George Russell, one of the best drivers on the grid. But Kimi has enormous potential. His speed and talent are already at a certain level, he just lacks the experience."
Antonelli sits seventh in the F2 drivers' standings after the first 20 races of the season, with eight more still to go. That's despite his Prema team having struggled for pace all year. And team-mate Oliver Bearman, whose place on the 2024 F1 grid with Haas is already secure, is 15th with fewer than half as many points.
Wolff knows Antonelli is raw but, with more regulation changes on the horizon in 2026, views next season as an ideal opportunity for the teenager to learn the ropes in F1. But he still doesn't want to make a full commitment just yet, even if he admits his ambitious plan to lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull is unlikely to succeed.
The Mercedes chief added: "An alternative scenario is, of course, Verstappen, but at the moment that doesn't seem realistic to me. Other drivers would sign a one or two-year contract, which is not enough for us. So I'm happy to take a risk with Antonelli, because it's a calculated risk.
"If you look at the progress of [Oscar] Piastri, it took him a year and a half to compete for victory at the level of [McLaren] team-mate Lando Norris. We want to try to do the same with Kimi. In 2025, with the changes in 2026, we'll be in transition anyway.
"So it's a good season to form him into our team. I will continue to observe the market - I am not sure how things will evolve further at Red Bull."
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