They say Mercedes might struggle badly without Lewis Hamilton. While filling the shoes of one of the greatest F1 drivers is certainly difficult, multiple drivers wish to give it a shot. Team boss Toto Wolff has mentioned that Hamilton‘s vacant 2025 seat is in a lot of demand after the announcement of his move to Ferrari.
Speaking to CNBC, Wolff gave insights on how there are a lot of options right now for Hamilton’s replacement. While it may not be like-for-like, there is enough interest from young to experienced drivers. As quoted by silverarrows.net, he stated, “Yeah, I think it’s the full spectrum.”
“We have, as you can imagine, the first day yesterday had quite a lot of phone calls and WhatsApps. And we’re going to take our time”, said Wolff.
The Austrian highlighted that it will be interesting to evaluate all these candidates in the next few months. In a chaotic 2024-25 driver market, Mercedes may look to get the best driver as per their requirements to partner George Russell.
Fernando Alonso was one of the first names that many rumored could catch Wolff’s eye. Besides Alonso, even Alex Albon, who has become a hot property on the current grid after his Williams renaissance, could get the seat. Albon and Alonso are on great terms with Russell, so they may form a decent dynamic.
Apart from these two, Carlos Sainz also becomes a straight swap option with Ferrari. And off-late, even Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have been the latest names to join this list. Although, Wolff would also consider a ‘bold’ driver choice. This bold move may involve Mercedes prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will drive in F2 this season.
With Lewis Hamilton’s 1-year notice, Toto Wolff will cautiously evaluate successor options
Lewis Hamilton has given Mercedes and Toto Wolff enough time to evaluate options to replace him in 2025. So, Wolff is keen on not making an impulsive decision and wants to cautiously evaluate all drivers to make the right choice for Hamilton’s successor.
As mentioned above, the 52-year-old has a plethora of options to choose from. Albon, Sainza, and even Ocon (who have been part of the Mercedes driver program) are good medium-term options. Alonso becomes a short-term option due to his age. However, given his superhuman abilities and talent, he may convince Wolff otherwise to be a medium-term option.
The bold left-field call of promoting Kimi Antonelli is something very interesting. Whether Wolff trusts the Italian prodigy enough to make him Hamilton’s successor will depend on his F2 season. Antonelli could make an impression like Hamilton himself did in 2007 at McLaren. So, Wolff won’t be shy if he decides to take a punt on Antonelli.
However, the good thing about this situation is that the Mercedes boss is not in a desperate situation like in 2016-17. That was when Nico Rosberg announced his sudden retirement after clinching his maiden world championship.
Wolff said on this, “We embraced the Nico [Rosberg] situation, and that was equally as unexpected, I am looking forward to taking the right decisions for the team, together with my colleagues for who is going to be in the seat next year.”
