32-win driver may already be ‘on the phone’ to Toto Wolff over 2025 F1 seat

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One driver may be in touch with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff over the vacant seat with the Silver Arrows.

Lewis Hamilton is leaving the Brackley outfit at the end of the year to join Ferrari for 2025.

And speaking on the Autosport podcast, journalist Filip Cleeren has suggested a possible successor.

George Russell is locked in until the end of next year but Wolff needs to fill the shoes of F1’s most successful driver in Hamilton.

The Briton has won six of his seven world championships with the team, having joined from McLaren in 2013.

More than half of the grid are in the final year of their contracts, which should present Wolff with plenty of options.

Mercedes are hoping to be Red Bull’s nearest challengers this season but have endured a disappointing start to the season.

After Russell came home sixth and Hamilton ninth in Saudi Arabia, they sit fourth in the championship behind McLaren on 26 points.

Fernando Alonso may pursue Toto Wolff talks over Mercedes seat

Cleeren thinks that Fernando Alonso could make his latest ‘bold’ decision by swapping Aston Martin for Mercedes.

Alonso has previously ditched McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and Alpine during a 382-race F1 career.

The 32-time Grand Prix winner is hoping for another shot at claiming a third world title before he retires.

Cleeren says Alonso must first decide if he wants to continue racing, having cited the danger of burnout in a record 24-race season.

But if he does opt to continue, then he expects the Spaniard to explore the possibility of driving for the German manufacturer.

He said: “We’ve seen Fernando make quite bold team swaps and decisions before.

“We’ve seen him leave Alpine in the summer with a while to go on his contract, we’ve seen him swap teams at various points just trying to find that championship-winning car that he had at Renault and then at McLaren a long time ago.

“If there’s any sniff of a better car, then his loyalty to the Strolls will be severly tested. You could definitely see him make a move.

“The other side of it is he is in his 40s, and he’s said a couple of times now that, with the calendar the way it is – 24 races, all the commitments, the travel and everything that goes with it – that is going to burn him out quicker than actually driving the car.

“So there is a decision to be made there – do I actually want to continue doing this, and for how long?

“And if that answer to that question is ‘yes’, then he will definitely be on the phone to Toto, which I’m sure he already has, even as just an exploration of what’s possible, and he’ll try and get a better seat.”

Who will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes?

Alonso isn’t the only driver in contention to fill the vacancy left by Hamilton.

Wolff personally wants to poach Max Verstappen from Red Bull, but he acknowledges that that will be extremely difficult given that the Dutchman has won three straight world titles with the team.

There’s also the more youthful option of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the 17-year-old who’s just starting out in Formula 2 after making a big splash in the lower categories.

And somewhere in between there lies Williams driver Alex Albon, who’s been put forward as an option by Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff.