Potential Hamilton Future Replacement Revealed By Toto Wolff

Monday, 16 October 2023 at 13:00

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In his recent interview, Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff revealed a young, talented driver who could potentially replace Lewis Hamilton when he retires.

As Toto Wolff said in a recent interview, after prolonging Lewis Hamilton's contract until the end of season 2025, Mercedes is happy with their drivers.

Wolff has been clear about the fact that he believes in the current Mercedes driver lineup. In his recent interview, Wolff told Wolff told Gazzetta dello Sport:

"For my life principle, I don't want to flirt around if my marriage is happy. It only creates chaos. We have a strong couple, in whom we believe, [they] were positive with the team even when the car was terrible."

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The Mercedes team principal clarified that he does not look around for alternatives for their current driver duo. However, the Austrian is fostering some young, talented drivers for the future of the team.

"Therefore, we have never spoken to anyone other. There are fast and interesting drivers, there is no doubt. But we focus on ourselves. And on our future men. Antonelli, for example, is a very talented Italian driver in whom we have invested."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a 17-year-old Italian driver currently racing for Prema Racing. Despite his young age, Antonelli already achieved a few important milestones that made an impression on Wolff.

"He won everything in F4, is leading the Formula Regional championship, and has shown that he is really strong, fantastic to see. But we don't want to put too much pressure on him."

The Austrian seems to have high hopes for the 17-year-old. On the other hand, Wolff is careful not to "burn him" and wants Antonelli to gain some more experience and confidence while he becomes an adult.

"Andrea is only 17 years old, we don't want to burn him, we have to let him become an adult. We need to do everything calmly."

Both Hamilton and Russell have their contracts valid until the end of season 2025. George Russell was already named by Wolff as the "future of Mercedes," while Hamilton made it clear he still wants to compete for the eighth title.

So far, it seems there are no empty seats left in Mercedes for the next couple of seasons. On the other hand, the Italian could start in Williams and work his way up just like Russell did in a few years.