After months of speculation, Mercedes’ 2025 driver lineup is nearly finalized. Earlier, Max Verstappen was team principal Toto Wolff’s main focus, but since that move did not materialize, he turned to Italian prodigy Kimi Antonelli, something Dutch journalist Erik van Haren revealed on social media.
Wolff felt that the internal turmoil at Red Bull would be enough to convince Verstappen to join Mercedes. The Silver Arrows also improved its performance, overtaking Red Bull in development and winning three of the last four races heading into the summer break. But Verstappen showed no interest in wanting to leave the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, yet.
In his tweet, Van Haren wrote, “Enough speculation, even in recent weeks, but Mercedes has also announced that Max Verstappen is not an option for that team for 2025, multiple sources confirm. Antonelli will therefore become Russell’s new teammate.”
Genoeg speculaties, zelfs de afgelopen weken nog, maar ook bij Mercedes is inmiddels bekend dat Max Verstappen voor 2025 geen optie is voor dat team, bevestigen meerdere bronnen. Antonelli zal dus nieuwe teamgenoot Russell worden.
De achtergronden ⬇️https://t.co/NMF2xnyAxO
— Erik van Haren (@ErikvHaren) August 21, 2024
Antonelli always received heavy backing from Wolff. And while the Austrian boss wouldn’t let the 18-year-old get in the way of him signing Verstappen, it was always clear that he would be his second choice.
Antonelli skipped F3 and directly entered F2 in 2024 because he was deemed good enough for a direct jump. Now, he is set to make his F1 debut in just a few months as George Russell‘s teammate.
Can Red Bull hold on to Verstappen?
Verstappen has been with Red Bull throughout his F1 career and admitted at the start of the season that he had no desire to switch teams. Although he has expressed frustration with the team’s recent performance slump and mistakes, it seems these issues are primarily due to his disappointment rather than any intention to leave.
Van Haren stated, “I think it’s always his intention to stay at Red Bull for 25.”
At the same time, Red Bull has lost several key figures over the past few months, most notably Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley. Verstappen is unlikely to use this as a reason to leave next year. However, retaining him in the long term will depend on how Red Bull performs without them.
“He said as well at the beginning of the year with all the questions that for him. It was important that the important people at the team stay,” van Haren added.
Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance is already faltering. So, if the team doesn’t make major strides with 2026’s regulation changes, Verstappen could look elsewhere, even if it isn’t Mercedes.
