Toto Wolff is scouting Andrea Kimi Antonelli to replace Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes F1 from 2025, showcasing the young talent’s potential at Imola.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes F1 Team Principal, has indeed begun evaluating his options to replace Lewis Hamilton from the 2025 season onwards.
This week, he was at Imola, accompanied by his young driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Mercedes F1 junior, who at 17 years old cannot yet test a Formula 1 car, is nonetheless one of the prime favorites to replace Hamilton, who will be moving to Ferrari.
And it’s not just because he’s already considered one of the most promising young drivers to climb the ranks since Max Verstappen.
The Italian is firmly under the wing of his mentor Toto Wolff, who is also close to Antonelli’s father, Marco.
At Imola this week, with Netflix cameras also in attendance, Wolff took the wheel of the Mercedes AMG GT3 owned and managed by Antonelli Motorsport, which belongs to Marco.
Wolff, who ended up brushing against the wall, was even spotted wearing Antonelli Motorsport team gear.
“I’m fine,” smiled the Mercedes F1 team boss and co-owner.
“Other than that, my driving skills are not ideal! I had an issue with the traction control and went into the wall after two laps.”
But the real reason Wolff was there was to start observing Andrea Kimi Antonelli closely.
“It’s interesting to be able to study a driver up close, their reactions, their way of working. Of course, he’s young, he has a lot to learn technically. But his personality, reactions, calmness, or nervousness, it says a lot about a driver’s mental strength, whether they have what it takes for F1 or not.”
Toto has thus already put his driver under pressure.
“A little anecdote: at school, he was called Kimi. That’s why I also call him Kimi. Unless I’m not happy with him, then he’ll go back to Andrea (his full name is Andrea Kimi), that’s what we’ve agreed on (laughs)!”
The big question now is whether Kimi will be George Russell’s teammate in 2025.
“At this stage, we’re keeping all options open.”
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