Kimi Antonelli might be the surprising replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025.
Mercedes may decide to replace Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1 2025 by employing a teenager, Max Verstappen, in a move that would replicate Red Bull’s example.
Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli, 17, is widely regarded as one of the stars of his generation and may be called up to the team sooner than some may have thought following his promotion to Formula 2.
The Briton, who has won six world titles with the team in 11 seasons, is set to leave after this season to join Ferrari, leaving Toto Wolff with a challenging task in his hands to fill the void.
In 2019, Antonelli, whose moniker “Kimi” pays tribute to 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, committed to join Mercedes’ junior team. Since then, the youthful Italian has created enthusiasm in each racing series he has taken part in. In 2023, he won crowns in the Middle East and European Formula Regional Championships.
In contrast to Verstappen, Antonelli will not compete in Formula 3; instead, he will enter Formula 2 in 2024 as a driver for the Italian team Prema Racing.
Furthermore, the junior player may be chosen to fill Hamilton’s gigantic racing boots if he does well in the feeder series.
Antonelli is equal to Verstappen.
Although Antonelli will not be competing in the F3 competition, he has driven an F3 car and impressed greatly at a recent test.
According to Sky Sports F1 reporter Karun Chandhok, race engineers were raving about the teenager’s performance due to his pace, and Verstappen parallels were unavoidable.
After the test, the former Formula One driver said he met with several experts, and they concluded he was the fastest Formula Three driver since Max Verstappen competed in the championship in 2014.
“From what I’ve heard, Antonelli seems like a very unique person. Chatted with the F3 engineers who recently took him for a private test day,” Chandhok posted on X, the platform that was formerly known as Twitter.
“Said he was Verstappen’s finest F3 vehicle driver since then! In 2007, McLaren took a chance with rookie Lewis, and it paid off.
Despite his inexperience and youth, Chandhok did not completely rule out the prospect of Antonelli joining George Russell in the Mercedes in 2025, citing Hamilton’s ascent to the F1 ranks at the age of 22 as an example.
Though it wouldn’t be the first time a team took such a chance, McLaren selected Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to replace Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya for the 2007 season, and Toro Rosso gave Verstappen a seat when he was just 17 years old. Antonelli may be the next to take the incredible step into Formula One.