Ever since Lewis Hamilton announced that he would be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari next year, there is a huge vacuum left in the Silver Arrows. And while it is going to be very important for Toto Wolff to choose Hamilton’s replacement wisely, the Austrian has thrown the name of 17-year-old racing sensation, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, into the mix.
Although Wolff has guaranteed Antonelli a seat in F1, the Italian still needs to meet one condition. Speaking at the Bahrain GP, Wolff said (as quoted on X (formerly Twitter)), “He (Antonelli) needs to learn. He needs to be more in the shadow, to be able to develop, and understand what to do.”
#BahrainGP | Toto Wolff on Kimi Antonelli: “I’m probably guilty of having talked too much about Kimi because he’s just 17, jumped F3, he’s going into F2. He needs to learn, he needs to be more in the shadow to be able to develop, understand what to do.”
“He’s gonna be in…
— deni (@fiagirly) February 29, 2024
According to Wolff, Antonelli is one of the options that Mercedes are considering to replace Hamilton. However, the Austrian has made it clear that he will not just give Antonelli the seat because of the hype surrounding the 17-year-old sensation.
Wolff has made it clear that Antonelli has to show that he is ready to take the pressures of delivering as a Formula 1 driver. Hence, Mercedes will closely scrutinize the Italian’s 2024 F2 performance before they make any decisions.
That being said, Antonelli’s hype and talent are undeniable. After winning the Formula Regional Middle East and the FRECA championships last year for Prema Racing, Antonelli skipped F3 entirely and directly landed a seat in F2.
Is Andrea Kimi Antonelli ready to replace Lewis Hamilton?
Toto Wolff has made it clear that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be in F1 at some point, but provided no timeline for the same. However, the Austrian did seemingly contradict himself as well. He revealed that the reason why Mercedes gave Hamilton a shorter deal was to ensure that they don’t lose Antonelli to one of their rivals.
Wolff justified his claims about Antonelli by comparing him to three-time champion Max Verstappen, who Mercedes failed to sign in 2015. Since both Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had long-term deals at that point, Mercedes couldn’t offer the Dutchman a seat. Red Bull made the most of this opportunity by offering Verstappen a seat with Toro Rosso.
Mercedes decided to not commit to a longer-term contract with Lewis Hamilton because they didn’t want to risk losing junior driver Kimi Antonelli.
This resulted in a break-clause in Lewis’ contract which he activated to move to Ferrari.
[@autosport] pic.twitter.com/TeMvI79fXl
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) February 28, 2024
In case if Mercedes decide that Antonelli is not ready yet to make the jump to F1, they could also consider signing two-time champion Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard could compete for the team for a couple of seasons, and in this time, Mercedes can develop Antonelli further.
