Toto Wolff ‘fancies risk’ with Andrea Kimi Antonelli after letting Max Verstappen ‘slip through fingers’

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Mercedes has officially confirmed that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will partner George Russell for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been long rumoured to be Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes, despite team principal Toto Wolff flirting with the idea of signing Max Verstappen.

The news comes on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix and just a day after he took part in his first FP1 session in Mercedes’ 2024 challenger, which ended in him crashing after just 10 minutes on track.

Antonelli revealed that he sustained a 52G impact and claimed that it was ‘lesson learned’ after he took too much life out of the tyres in the early stages of the session while the newly resurfaced track was still dirty.

Analysing the move on F1.com, journalist Lawrence Barretto believes Wolff wanted to take a risk on Antonelli after letting Verstappen ‘slip through his fingers’ in 2014.

Toto Wolff wanted to avoid Max Verstappen repeat with Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Before Verstappen signed with Red Bull in 2014 when he was just 17 years old, Wolff was in contact over a potential future seat at Mercedes.

At the time, Verstappen was racing in European Formula 3 and already received high praise for his efforts in the championship.

With Red Bull in the race to secure his signature, they could offer Verstappen something Mercedes could not: a direct seat to F1. They had the advantage of having Toro Rosso (now VISA CashApp RB), whereas Wolff wanted Verstappen to do stints in F1 feeder series GP3 and GP2 before making his debut.

Baretto believes Wolff sees the same scenario with Antonelli, which is why he has wasted no time signing him for 2025 despite having a tough season in F2 this year.

“Wolff fancies taking a risk. He won’t have wanted to lose out on another potential generational talent – having let Verstappen slip through his fingers earlier in the Dutchman’s career – and he’ll have wanted a driver oozing talent to fill the big shoes left by Hamilton,” wrote Barretto.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli earns high praise despite Monza crash

Antonelli’s crash during FP1 in Monza is unlikely to convince fans that Mercedes has made the right move, but those within the team have praised him for what he did during his 10-lap run.

Mercedes head of communications Bradley Lord said it was ‘good to see’ Antonelli on the limit from the first laps he completed on track.

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

The Italian completed a test with Mercedes earlier in the season in their 2022 car, when Antonelli reportedly ‘surprised everyone’ with his ability to absorb information.

Wolff expects he will next have an outing with Mercedes before his full-time debut at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix, when they will make use of their remaining FP1 rookie outing with Lewis Hamilton.