Toto Wolff thinks Mercedes ‘Plan A’ Lewis Hamilton replacement is the ‘next Max Verstappen’

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Mercedes have picked Andrea Kimi Antonelli as their ‘Plan A’ option to replace Lewis Hamilton as Toto Wolff thinks their 17-year-old protégé is the ‘next Max Verstappen’.

Brackley bosses are preparing a seat in their garage for Antonelli after Hamilton triggered an escape clause in his contract. The 39-year-old has opted to walk away from Mercedes after the 2024 F1 season to replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari with a multi-year contract in Maranello.

Hamilton has been with the Silver Arrows since 2013 and he has only ever driven Mercedes-powered cars in Formula 1. But back-to-back winless seasons after F1 adopted new ground effect regulations in 2022 has tempted the Briton to secure a new challenge in red next year.

Mercedes mark Andrea Kimi Antonelli as their ‘Plan A’ to replace Lewis Hamilton

Now, Mark Hughes of The Race notes that Mercedes believe they have Hamilton’s successor on the books already in Antonelli. The teenager entered the Silver Arrows’ driver academy in 2019 whilst still racing go-karts. But he has enjoyed lavish success since entering their fold.

So, Mercedes have marked Antonelli as their ‘Plan A’ to replace Hamilton in 2025, providing that he performs in Formula 2 this year. The Italian will debut in Formula 1’s premier feeder series with Prema in 2024 after the Silver Arrows elected to skip Formula 3 for his evolution.

Hughes adds that Mercedes love Antonelli as team principal Wolff and many others at their factory ‘very much’ think he is the ‘next Max Verstappen’. The journalist also claims that he has also shown ‘some pretty sensational form’ in his karting and single-seater career so far.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has a better pre-F1 single-seater CV than Max Verstappen

Many expect Antonelli will perform the moment that he races in Formula 2 to see Mercedes mark the Bologna native as their top candidate to replace Hamilton directly. The 17-year-old won several karting championships and has continued to enhance his trophy cabinet in cars.

Antonelli won the German and Italian Formula 4 championships with Prema in 2022. Prema also engineered the Formula Regional European Championship car in which he won the title in 2023. The wonderkid also won the Formula Regional Middle East Championship last year.

Now, a strong debut season in Formula 2 with the team that took Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti to P2 in 2023 can see Antonelli replace seven-time F1 champion Hamilton. Prema also won the F2 drivers’ title with Mick Schumacher in 2020 and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in 2021.

Yet Antonelli already has a stronger single-seater CV than Verstappen boasted before joining Toro Rosso at just 17 in 2015. The 26-year-old only spent a season in single-seaters during 2014 and sealed third in the FIA Formula 3 European championship before breaking into F1.

Now, Verstappen is a three-time Formula 1 drivers’ champion with Red Bull and sits third to Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91) for Grand Prix wins (54). He is also seventh in the pole position charts (32) and for podiums (98) booked in the pinnacle of motorsport yet.