“Too Early for [Kimi] Antonelli”: Nico Rosberg Leaves Painful Verdict for Toto Wolff’s Wonderkid

“Lewis Hamilton has put Mercedes in an extremely difficult position,” said Nico Rosberg, as the 7X champ made his sudden Ferrari move earlier this year. Rosberg and Hamilton haven’t seen eye to eye after the 2016 F1 season. Rosberg suggests that the Brit has left Toto Wolff with a headache to find a replacement for him. And while Toto Wolff wants to capitalize on Kimi Antonelli, who everyone is referring to as the next Verstappen, Rosberg suggests it’s too early for the F2 rookie.

Kimi Antonelli made his way to F2 after showing serious pace in the Formula Regional European Championship and winning it with Prema Racing. The Italian was then promoted to Prema’s F2 team for the 2024 championship. However, things haven’t gone as planned as Antonelli would’ve expected. The Mercedes prospect is currently P9 in the F2 championship and has failed to impress anyone. While there’s no doubt about his talent, Antonelli needs time to get to grips with the F2 level. 

After Hamilton’s exit, Antonelli came up as a possible replacement. Hence, Mercedes scheduled a couple of test sessions for the Italian with their F1, the first of which happened a couple of weeks ago at the Austrian GP over two days in the Mercedes W12. The next test will be with the W13, Mercedes’ first car of the ground effect era. A team would usually set up tests like these for a roomie test driver only when they saw potential and wanted to sign him in the future.

Alas, that future will not be 2025, as suggested by Nico Rosberg. The German believes that it is still too early for Kimi Antonelli to make his way into F1. Speaking with motorsport-total.com, Nico Rosberg said, “Antonelli is definitely a superstar of the future. But unfortunately, the timing is too early for him. And [it is] too early for Toto to choose Antonelli.” He further added, “He (Antonelli) hasn’t shown anything in Formula 2 yet. This is the minimum requirement to do well in Formula 2 in order to be eligible for Formula 1. Therefore, Toto has to take time for this strategy and wait until summer or autumn for the decision.”

To this date, Toto Wolff regretted not being able to sign Max Verstappen when he was available on the drivers market, because Mercedes had Rosberg and Hamilton with duration left on the contract, and the Mercedes CEO doesn’t want to make the same mistake with Antonelli. However, it looks like Wolff’s Verstappen regrets might come to an end. 

Toto Wolff and Co. set to negotiate $160 Million contract with Max Verstappen 

As the Adrian Newey exit rumors hit the paddock, Mercedes took the opportunity to deal another blow to Red Bull. F1 pundits suggest that Toto Wolff has been aggressively pursuing Max Verstappen since Hamilton departed. More than 90% of employees at Mercedes want Max Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, and that might come true. After Wolff’s latest move, Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff are set to negotiate a contract after the Miami GP.

From Mercedes’ side, all the owners of the team, Toto Wolff, Ola Kallenius, who’s the CEO of the Daimler group, and Sir James Ratcliff, the largest shareholder of INEOS, will be present. Whereas, from Verstappen’s side, his father, Jos Verstappen, and representative Raymond Vermeulen are expected to be present. Toto Wolff and Co. are believed to go as high as $160 million a year to lure Verstappen to Mercedes, with an ambassadorial role and the option to bring in Helmut Marko.

Who do you think Mercedes will sign for the 2025 seat? Let us know below.