Villeneuve Suggests Wolff Got His 'Ego' Attached To Putting Antonelli In Mercedes
F1Wednesday, 12 June 2024 at 22:00
Jacques Villeneuve suggested Mercedes will sign the young Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Toto Wolff's ego is now attached to that decision.
Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes at the end of this season, and his seat is still officially free starting next season, although unofficially, it seems the decision on who will drive alongside George Russell in 2025 has already been made.
At the start of the season, there were multiple contenders, including Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso (both of whom have contracts with different teams now), Carlos Sainz, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
However, speaking to Sky Germany ahead of the ninth round of the 2024 season, Toto Wolff hinted Sainz won't be driving for Mercedes as the team wants to focus on their young talent- Antonelli. He said:
"We just want to concentrate on Kimi, that is our future, young drivers. We want to commit to that, to young drivers, and that is what we've told Carlos."
Having said that, it seems almost sure that the 17-year-old Italian driver (who currently competes in F2) will be in Mercedes in 2025, although he hasn't signed a contract yet.
1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve asserted the seat is already reserved for the youngester and that the team principal of Silver Arrows will "not have it any other way" because of his ego. As reported by crash.net, he said:
"Mercedes is not really an open door. It's [Kimi] Antonelli's team. That's the future. He's been prepped for it. Toto will not have it any other way. There's ego in there."
"He will prove to the world that he was right, that when Antonelli was 12, he knew that he was a future champion."
Antonelli has been part of Mercedes Academy for quite a while now, and his career record up until this moment has been more than impressive. The 17-year-old has won perhaps everything that he could.
Then he skipped F3 to go straight into F2. In F2, Antonelli hasn't won a race so far, but he stands sixth in the Championship of 22 drivers.
Will he be prepared for F1? Mercedes is putting the Italian through a series of tests in F1 cars this season, and everything suggests they have been satisfied with his performance so far.
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