George Russell claims Kimi Antonelli is ‘destined to be at Mercedes’ amidst Lewis Hamilton replacement rumors 

Kimi Antonelli is being seen as one of the potential candidates to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025.

George Russell claims Kimi Antonelli is ‘destined to be at Mercedes’ amidst Lewis Hamilton replacement rumors 

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli (Via: Imago)

After the news of Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025 came out, there have been a lot of speculations as to who will be the next competitor to take over from him at Mercedes. Filling the place of seven-time world champion is a big responsibility on the shoulders of whoever takes the seat. 

While many speculations are going on as to who that might be, perhaps it could be a swap, where Carlos Sainz Jr. will take over the seat as Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari, or it could be Mercedes’s reserve driver, Mick Schumacher, who could be given the opportunity. Amongst all these names, is the name of a young talent, Kim Antonelli, who is currently a part of the Mercedes junior program and is competing in F2.

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While many are passing their opinion on the matter, George Russell has also taken the time to share his thoughts. The Brit while talking about Antonelli said,    

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He is destined to be at Mercedes one day. I don't know whether that will be next season or in the future. Time will tell.

The 17-year-old Antonelli, who finished first in the Italian F4 and the Formula Regional European Championship in 2022, is racing in Formula 2 for Prema this season. In 2026, Antonelli would first be eligible to take over the seat but with Hamilton leaving at the end of the year, he can take over early. It is not a set guarantee whether he will be driving in F1 for Mercedes in 2025, but the German team would not want to lose the chance of having such a young talent in their arsenal.  

Toto Wolff admits to being guilty of overly discussing Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Although Toto Wolff stated that he would have preferred to have the newly promoted Formula 2 driver Antonelli in his car, the rookie’s first feeder series weekend did not go as planned, with his PREMA team running at a slow pace. There have been rumors that he could replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025.

Toto Wolff and kimi Antonelli
Toto Wolff and kimi Antonelli (Via: Imago)

Against the expectations of the highly successful PREMA team, Antonelli and Oliver Bearman managed to secure the ninth row of the grid over the weekend. Antonelli overcame Bearman to finish 14th in the sprint race and 10th in the feature race. The Mercedes team principal is almost too guilty about speaking too much about the young talent, in advance. 

Despite everything that’s going around, Wolff is not yet thinking about giving Antonelli the Hamilton seat in 2025 because the young driver is still learning the ropes in F2. In order to avoid committing to a choice just yet, Wolff is keeping his options open.

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