Andrea Kimi Antonelli has just told Toto Wolff the last thing the Mercedes F1 boss wants to hear

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has just told Toto Wolff the last thing that the Mercedes chief wants to hear from his likely replacement for Lewis Hamilton at the Formula 1 team.

The Silver Arrows are seriously considering promoting Antonelli straight from his rookie year in Formula 2 to replace the seven-time Formula 1 champion. Hamilton left Mercedes to sign his successor in February when the 39-year-old agreed on a multi-year contract with Ferrari.

Hamilton has been in Brackley since 2013 but will break up F1’s most successful driver-team pairing ever after this season. So, Wolff has spent the past few months considering a host of drivers who Mercedes can sign from Carlos Sainz to Max Verstappen or promoting Antonelli.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is unsure ‘if I’m ready’ to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Antonelli is the driver widely expected to replace Hamilton and race with George Russell for Mercedes in 2025. Wolff is giving up hope of tempting Verstappen to leave Red Bull and join them next year. Yet Sainz boasts an outside shot at joining Mercedes when he leaves Ferrari.

A factor that is helping Antonelli to emerge as the favourite to replace Hamilton next year is that he recently out-paced Russell in a private test at Silverstone. But the 17-year-old admits he is not sure if the 2025 season is too soon to rise up from F2 as it is still teaching him a lot.

READ MORE: Who is Mercedes academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

Antonelli bypassed Formula 3 as Mercedes sought to expedite his development after taking back-to-back championship doubles in Formula 4 and FRECA. Yet the Bologna native feels he makes too many errors and the pressure from being linked to Mercedes has not helped.

“The pressure has been increasing weekend after weekend, obviously, with all the talk,” said Antonelli, as quoted by Marca. “I don’t know if I’m ready, to be honest. I’m still learning a lot in F2 [and] it’s clear that I still make a lot of mistakes.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is proving to Toto Wolff that he is an option in F2 and his F1 tests

Mercedes have always viewed Antonelli as a potential replacement for Hamilton as he is the star of the Silver Arrows’ driver academy. The Italian joined their fold while racing go-karts in 2019 and later took German and Italian F4 tiles plus European and Middle East FRECA titles.

F2 adopting a new car in 2024 then gave Mercedes a chance to let Antonelli bypass F3 and enter F1’s main feeder series on a level playing field. But Prema took time to understand the car and Antonelli struggled. But he is now a winner around Silverstone and the Hungaroring.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025

Antonelli mastered the wet conditions to win F2’s Sprint race on F1’s British GP bill, despite safety car and red flag disruptions. The Italian also proved on F1’s Hungarian GP bill that he has a greater understanding of the Pirelli tyres to win F2’s Feature race from P7 on the grid.

So, while Antonelli might have said the last thing that Wolff would want to hear by claiming the Silver Arrows prospect is unsure he is ready to replace Hamilton, the Italian is proving in Formula 2 and in his private Formula 1 tests that he is on the right path to seal a graduation.