Ever since the announced departure of Lewis Hamilton in the 2025 F1 season, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team has undergone several changes under the leadership of Team Principal Toto Wolff to make up for the exit of the decorated athlete.
Hamilton announced his leave from the team back in February. Still, this event has rocked the Mercedes team with Hamilton’s young replacement Kimi Antonelli already set in stone, and doubts cast upon whether George Russell can keep his seat post-2025 with the looming possibility of powerhouse Max Verstappen joining the Mercedes team.
On August 31, 2024, Kimi Antonelli, just 18 years old, announced his future partnership with Mercedes for the 2025 season. Antonelli’s talents are nothing to scoff at. Lawrence Baretto, a correspondent for F1 wrote how he’s the “reigning Formula Regional European Champion,” and how he “performed so strongly that he skipped F3 to make his F2” – one step below F1– “debut.” Antonelli also won the ADAC F4 championship back in 2022 and the Formula Regional Middle East Championship in 2023.
What’s incredibly impressive about Antonelli is that he jumped from F4 to F1 in 3 years. Moreover, Motorsport reports how Antonelli breaks a long-standing tradition, by being the first rookie driver to be signed by Mercedes in 70 years.
When Mercedes veteran Lewis Hamilton was asked about a new prospect stepping into his seat, Hamilton spoke to Sports Illustrated regarding Antonelli’s brimming talent, “I said a long time ago that I think he was who the team should choose moving forward.” He said. “He’s one of those young, super-talented kids coming through. He’s a young adult now, but he’s only 18.” Antonelli also opened up regarding Hamilton’s kindness to him in an interview with F1, saying, “He’s been helpful. Before my FP1, he came to me, gave me a high five, and told me to enjoy as much as possible.”
However, in Antonelli’s first free practice debut with the team in Monza, he only lasted 10 minutes before he crashed. When Team Principal Wolff was asked about the incident in an interview with F1, he remained unfazed and confident with his new talent. “That can happen…We’re happy to work with someone who has so much speed, that has confidence,” he said, discussing the crash. Wolff also added that you must be prepared to take risks with new talent, “When you invest in young drivers, these things happen…You need to be prepared to take that risk.”
I asked long-time F1 fan Joshua Schermann from McQueen High School if he thought that Mercedes was taking a big risk by letting such young talent under their wing. He responded, “I think it is a risk signing Antonelli instead of a more experienced driver because he will be put in a very fast and competitive car, and will be making a lot of mistakes as a rookie.” He added that Antonelli might hinder Mercedes’ chances for a championship next season, “This could cost Mercedes points and maybe even the championship if they are competitive enough.”
Moreover, George Russell, who has been a part of the Mercedes family since 2017, might not have a guaranteed spot for future seasons. F1 Mercedes veteran Nico Rosberg told Sky Sports that Russell is unsafe due to Wolff’s desire to have Max Verstappen. “George is not safe at all because Toto still wants Max,” he said. “He will try again for 2026 because ‘give up’ does not appear in Toto’s vocabulary.” Despite this, Toto Wolff told Sky Sports that his pursuit of Verstappen is “on pause” due to the satisfactory lineup of Russell and Antonelli for the 2025 season.
When asked about his potential future, PlanetF1 wrote that George stated he’s currently only focused on the present, “…from my side, I’m not focused on any of that. I’m just focused on my driving.” I then asked Joshua for further input on whether he thought George needed to defend his spot for 2026 and years beyond from Verstappen: “I think George is definitely going to be the team leader next season.” He added, “I think he will have to prove to Toto that he can handle the extra pressure of leading a team and possibly fighting for a championship at the same time.”
However, Schermann added that Russell’s seat would be at risk “if Max Verstappen decided that Mercedes is a better option than Red Bull or other options, then there is a definite risk.” However, he added that instead of Russell’s spot being at risk, it might be new player Antonelli’s seat getting dropped, “but it also depends on Antonellis’s performance in 2025, because if he is not performing next season he might get dropped instead of George.”
The Mercedes family has been thrown into a frenzy with the loss of reigning champion Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season, and it’s interesting to see the new players Mercedes introduce. Fans of the Mercedes F1 team can hope that the “new kid on the block” Kimi Antonelli performs well in the 2025 season and steps up into decorated veteran Lewis Hamilton’s shoes to give Mercedes a fighting chance at a championship. Moreover, fans of George Russell specifically, can also hope that his performances this season and the next will be enough to hold off against powerhouse Max Verstappen if Toto Wolff chooses to pursue him in the future.
