Toto Wolff quizzed on ‘more attractive’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli in light of Mercedes’ woes

Ahead of his F1 test, Toto Wolff says he’s undecided on whether the team’s ongoing troubles make it more attractive to put Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the car next season.

17-year-old Mercedes protege Antonelli is reportedly leading the running to fill Lewis Hamilton’s soon-to-be-vacant seat for the 2025 F1 season.

Could Mercedes put a rookie in the car next season?

However, Mercedes have not once fielded a rookie driver since buying the Brawn GP team back in 2010.

Instead, they’ve always put experienced drivers in the car such as World Champions Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton as well as former Williams drivers Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell.

But with Formula 2 driver Antonelli the future of Mercedes, the Italian having joined the Brackley squad’s junior programme back in 2019, Wolff is considering promoting him next season after just one year in F2, having just skipped Formula 3.

He was asked if Mercedes’ struggles with the team having won just one Grand Prix since the start of the 2022 season made Antonelli a ‘more attractive’ option as there would be no pressure on the rookie to fight for race wins.

Wolff replied: “I think you can look at it from various perspectives.

“I believe we are in a rebuilding phase. We need to acknowledge that three years into these regulations we’ve got to do things differently than we’ve done in the past without throwing overboard what we believe is goodness in the way we operate.

“And rebuild a good team, we could put a young driver in, give him an opportunity with less pressure and fighting for victories immediately, or put a more experienced driver in the car that can help us dig ourselves out of the current performance.”

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Wolff won’t give Antonelli pointers ahead of F1 test

Antonelli will have his first taste of F1 machinery later this week when he puts in the laps at the Red Bull Ring in a 2021 Mercedes W12.

His two-day test begins on Tuesday.

Asked if he would give Antonelli any pointers, Wolff laughed: “Well, that would be really bad if I would be starting to give Andrea instructions!

“But yeah, [the test] is going to be there with a 2021 car. We want to give him the feeling of what a really good car looks like, and then we are going to put him in the 2022 car to see what the difference is!

“I’m really keen and happy to see him in a Formula 1 car. He’s been with us since he was 11. I have a picture of him standing next to me on the centre console as a baby boy in go-karting, and now to witness that development into a Formula 1 driver is something that I’m really proud of.”

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