The torch has been passed in Mercedes. F2 Prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli has reportedly signed a contract to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Team Principal Toto Wolff’s efforts and mentoring will finally bear fruit with F1’s ‘Next Max Verstappen‘ rising to the challenge. Fortuitously, Mercedes’ recent return to form plays right into Antonelli’s hands. Moreover, living Hamilton’s Silverstone victory vicariously has encouraged the young Italian to dream even bigger.

The British GP weekend was very special for Mercedes. On Saturday, future star Kimi Antonelli took his first-ever F2 victory in the F2 Sprint race. On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton increased the celebrations multifold with an emotional home victory after 3 years, as Antonelli witnessed the rollercoaster from the garage. But he wasn’t left out. To sow the dream of being a world champion in him, Toto Wolff took the youngster for the team’s winning picture.

“That was a nice moment,” Antonelli told Motorsport Total. “Toto said to me: ‘Kimi, let’s go to the photo with us.’ I had already witnessed the incredible atmosphere in the box before. I had never seen anything like this before. Everyone sang. The joy was in their eyes,” the Italian expressed with glee.

“This was emotional for me too,” he further described. “Because at that moment I realized how much these people had waited for this success and longed for it,” he added, referring to Hamilton breaking his agonizing 945-day winless streak at Silverstone. “I consider myself lucky that I was able to experience such a moment together with the whole team.”

On that day, not only was a dormant lion reawakened but also a future champion was born. Toto Wolff’s gesture for Mercedes’ future star was nothing short of an honor. The Austrian is really coming into his own as a team boss at a time when the team needs such leadership. Is this the new beginning that the Silver Arrows were looking for?

Toto Wolff: Mercedes will bring in a “new era” after Lewis Hamilton’s departure

When Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag at Silverstone, the crowd erupted. So did Toto Wolff. But at that moment, he also noticed a magnificent story being written around him. “I had this moment where you see the greatest British driver checking out with us at the British Grand Prix and in the garage, you have this young Italian that hasn’t got a driving licence even, that was watching that scene, and I bet he thought, ‘I want to be that one day’. Maybe not here, maybe Monza.”

When F1 (and F2) traveled to Hungary two weeks after the British GP, Antonelli looked fierce. He stormed to his first F2 feature race victory with a late charge. Wolff commended his “dominant win”, calling it “well deserved”. Recently, the Mercedes boss has reflected on what his team would be like once Hamilton departs and Antonelli comes in.

After admitting how their 7-time champion “icon” draws more media coverage for Mercedes, Wolff told Formula.hu, “A new era will start for Mercedes. I don’t know yet who will be the next era’s important drivers, and I also can’t tell, whether we will as successful as we hope to be.” Though the Austrian seems reserved in his expectations, Mercedes has a promising future. With James Allison bringing a technical revolution to make their car great again, nothing seems impossible.