Mercedes told it’s ‘too early’ for ‘outside contender’ to replace Lewis Hamilton

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Mercedes are now looking for a driver to replace Lewis Hamilton after he signed with Ferrari but the F1 community feels 2025 is ‘too early’ to get their ‘outside contender’.

The Silver Arrows announced on Thursday evening that Hamilton had used an escape clause in his contract. Mercedes only tied the 39-year-old down for the 2024 and 2025 seasons in August. But he has now opted to split from the Brackley team and move to Ferrari next year.

Hamilton has been with Mercedes since the 2013 season and he has driven cars powered by the German automotive giants since arriving in Formula 1 with McLaren in 2007. The Briton further won six of his seven F1 drivers’ championships between the 2014 and 2020 seasons.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the ‘outside contender’ to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Now, several Formula 1 drivers are emerging as candidates to replace Hamilton at Mercedes – including the Silver Arrows’ 17-year-old prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli. That is according to Motor Sport Magazine, which reports that the Italian gem is already the ‘outside contender’.

Other drivers include Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon with the pair out of contract at Aston Martin and Williams respectively after 2024. The star Hamilton will replace at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, is also a further driver for Mercedes to consider to partner George Russell in Brackley.

But Mercedes may already have the driver to replace Hamilton in their ranks with Antonelli. He has been a Silver Arrows junior driver since 2019 whilst racing go-karts. Mercedes have also expedited his rise by springing from Formula Regional straight into Formula 2 for 2024.

Formula 1 community feels 2025 would be ‘too early’ to promote the 2024 F2 rookie

Antonelli showed why Mercedes had signed him by winning back-to-back CIK-FIA European karting championships in 2020 and 2021. He also moved into single-seaters in 2021 and he won the Italian F4 and German F4 titles in 2022. Titles have come wherever Antonelli goes.

The Italian stormed to the Formula Regional Europe and Middle East titles in 2023. Now, his debut in Formula 2 awaits with the revered Prema squad, who won the championship with Mick Schumacher in 2020 and Oscar Piastri – now a Formula 1 star with McLaren – in 2021.

Antonelli already knows Prema well after winning his two F4 plus Formula Regional Europe titles with the team. A rookie Formula 2 title is not out of the realm of possibility, either. He recently tested an F3 car and lapped whole seconds faster than his F2 rivals when it rained.

Now, the Bologna native is the ‘outside contender’ to make a rapid rise into Formula 1 and partner Russell. But Motor Sport Magazine notes that the general consensus among the F1 community is that 2025 would be ‘too early’ for Antonelli to replace Hamilton at Mercedes.

He is certainly a prodigious gem and has a great spot to show Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff his skills. Maybe winning the Formula 2 title as a rookie – something Russell and Hamilton’s imminent Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, achieved – may put Antonelli in the Mercedes.