Mercedes told to repeat McLaren ‘gamble’ with ‘special’ teen to replace Lewis Hamilton

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Karun Chandhok has urged Mercedes to repeat the ‘gamble’ McLaren made when the Formula 1 team gave Lewis Hamilton his debut by now signing Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The Silver Arrows are scouting for a new driver after Hamilton triggered the release clause in his contract to join Ferrari. He will move to Maranello in 2025 and replace Carlos Sainz in the garage with Charles Leclerc. Even though he only signed a new deal for Mercedes in August.

Hamilton saw enough after two winless seasons in succession to opt to split from Mercedes after the 2024 F1 season. The 39-year-old has been in Brackley since he left McLaren back in 2013. Now, his departure may hand 17-year-old gem Antonelli his graduation to Formula 1.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli could replace Lewis Hamilton in F1 at Mercedes

Mercedes signed Antonelli to their driver academy whilst he was still racing go-karts in 2019 and the Italian only moved into single-seaters come 2021. But the Bologna native has been a resounding triumph behind the wheel with titles galore since he took up karting aged seven.

Antonelli swept several championships in go-karts and the Mercedes protégé has continued to thrive in single-seaters. He won the Italian and German Formula 4 championships in 2022 and then did the Formula Regional European and Middle East championship double in 2023.

Junior series giants, Prema, engineered Antonelli’s F4 and Formula Regional European titles, so they were an obvious choice for Mercedes to quickstep the Italian into Formula 2 in 2024 with. The teenager has skipped Formula 3 to establish his potential to be a Formula 1 driver.

Karun Chandhok thinks Mercedes gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli is ‘special’

With Hamilton now deciding to leave Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025, a strong first season as a Formula 2 driver could even see Antonelli shoot into Formula 1 with the Silver Arrows. Team principal Toto Wolff will have to be brave to place their protégé with George Russell, though.

But Sky Sports F1 pundit, Chandhok, feels it is potentially a risk worth Mercedes taking, akin to how Hamilton broke into Formula 1 with McLaren in 2007. The ex-HRT star feels the teen is a gifted gem after lapping an F3 car full seconds faster than his new F2 rivals in a wet test.

Chandhok also spoke with the engineers who prepared Antonelli’s F3 car for the recent test. They informed him that Antonelli drove to such a level that he reminded them of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who debuted in F1 at just 17 years old after only a season in single-seaters.

“From everything I hear of Antonelli, he’s pretty damn special,” Chandhok said on X. “Spoke with the F3 engineers who ran him recently on a private test day, said he was the best driver in an F3 car since Verstappen! McLaren’s gamble with [a] rookie Lewis in 2007 worked out.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli would not be a true Lewis Hamilton repeat

Verstappen shot straight from finishing third in the 2014 Formula 3 European championship into Formula 1 with Toro Rosso. He is now a three-time F1 champion and has the third-most wins (54) to date. Hamilton has won the most races (103) and is a seven-time F1 champion.

But Mercedes would not truly be repeating the risk McLaren made by putting Hamilton in F1 in 2007 by promoting Antonelli. The Briton was 22 when he broke through, had raced single-seaters since 2001 and had won titles in Formula Renault, F3 Euro and GP2 Series (now F2).