Ralf Schumacher believes 24-year-old has a chance of replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

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Ralf Schumacher has now shared who he believes could replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

The 39-year-old is on the verge of joining Ferrari in 2025 in one of the biggest moves in Formula 1 history.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Ralf Schumacher has shared his thoughts on the move.

On Thursday afternoon at Mercedes headquarters, a meeting took place to tell staff that the 39-year-old would be moving on.

It leaves Toto Wolff without his star driver, although he will have plenty of faith in his teammate George Russell.

Mercedes went a whole season without a win last year and that might have prompted Lewis Hamilton to make this decision.

There had been some early positive noises from the team about their car’s pace for the upcoming season.

But Hamilton has now followed in the footsteps of the man he replaced at Mercedes and joined Ferrari where Michael Schumacher won the majority of his titles.

Michael’s brother Ralf has now shared who he thinks could replace Hamilton at Mercedes.

He’s chosen one driver he knows very well, while also ruling out a move for another star.

Toto Wolff won’t want to hang around but knows he’s got an absolutely huge decision to make in the coming weeks and months.

Ralf Schumacher shares who he thinks could replace Hamilton at Mercedes

Asked to name a potential replacement, Schumacher said: “This is a good question, Toto Wolff is clever enough, I mean he always likes to have young guys.

“Now, [George] Russell is strong enough to lead the team, so I think it’s time for them to get a new driver onboard.

“I mean obviously there are some other drivers around, Carlos Sainz, but I think he will end up at Audi eventually. So that’s really not an option.

“Yeah he still has a really young driver on his contract, we’ll have to wait and see how he develops.

“Mick [Schumacher] for sure can have a chance, but they still have time.”

The really young driver Schumacher mentions is Kimi Antonelli but it would be a shock if he was ahead of Mick Schumacher in Wolff’s thoughts to replace Hamilton at Mercedes.

The young Italian is much more likely to move to somewhere like Williams to make his bow in Formula 1 if he has a strong F2 campaign this year.

Mick Schumacher didn’t have a great time during his two years in F1 with Haas and it would be a gamble to put him in the car.

Sainz has been linked to Audi for some time and they could be delighted with today’s announcement.

It might put them in an even stronger position to sign one of their top targets before they join the grid in 2026.