Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel: Who Will Fill in Lewis Hamilton Sized Hole at Mercedes

“I hope they find someone great,” said Lewis Hamilton when asked about Mercedes’ prospects. Toto Wolff indeed has the biggest task at hand. He has a Lewis Hamilton-sized hole to fill, and the world hasn’t received any updates yet. Wolff admitted that Hamilton’s exit would hurt the team a lot, even outside the racetrack, because of the brand Hamilton has become. But as fate has it, even the best partnerships come to an end, and so did the Lewis-Merc era.

Going forward, Mercedes has a very big pool of drivers to choose from. Starting from the prodigal wonder, Kimi Antonelli to the retired champion Sebastian Vettel, and even the man who is in the form of his lifetime Carlos Sainz. 13 current drivers will be out of their F1 seats by the end of this year, the German team is for sure spoiled for choices but are of these good enough?

“rebuild could mean putting a young driver in there,”: Toto Wolff on Andrew Kimi Antonelli

The 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli became a Mercedes F1 junior back in 2018 while in mini-karting, and when he reached senior karting, he won two FIA-recognised European titles. After his F4 stint, he stepped up to Formula Regional in 2023 and took eight races & won the Middle East and then the European championship. He bypassed Formula 3 to be part of the Prema’s F2 line-up this year. He is ninth in the standings after the first three rounds of his rookie campaign.

When asked about the benefits of getting Antonelli in a Mercedes in 2025, Wolff said, “I think you can look at it from various perspectives. I believe that we are in a rebuild phase. And rebuild could mean putting a young driver in there. And giving him an opportunity with less pressure than fighting for victories immediately. Or putting a more experienced driver in the car. That can help us dig ourselves out of the current performance situation. That’s my picture.” Moreover, Mercedes is said to have organized a private test for Antonelli where he will be driving W12 and W13.

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Wolff recalls that the Italian junior was 11 when he came to Mercedes. Moreover, Wolff in the past had failed to give a seat to teenage Max Verstappen due to which he lost him to Red Bull. He wouldn’t want to make the same mistake twice. But could it be the driver who went into hiding a little too early?

“would love for Seb to come back”: Lewis Hamilton makes his choice clear for his replacement

Sebastian Vettel still has “a race to win” or so says his Instagram bio. The 4x champion was Merćedes’ closest rival in their most dominant era. He hung his boots after two years of driving for Aston Martin to prioritize his family time. Recently, he tested a Porsche 963 hypercar at MotorLand Aragon. There had been talks that a Le Mans outing this year with the German manufacturer might be on the cards for Vettel. And with that, questions and rumors of his comeback began making the rounds.

He admitted to being in touch with Toto Wolff and even said one can never say no to anything. Amidst these rumors, Lewis Hamilton picked his favorite to fill that seat in Mercedes. He said, “But I would love for Seb to come back. I think he would be an amazing option for the team, to have a multi-world championship-winning driver, someone who’s got amazing values to continue to take this team forward… I would love it if he came back.”

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The German connection cannot be ignored because when Mercedes took over Brawn GP, they entered their first season (2010) with a German line-up that included Seb’s hero Michael Schumacher, who came out of retirement. Could History repeat itself? Or could it be the man who is adamant about making history?

Can Carlos Sainz end up at Mercedes?

I haven’t gotten tired of saying that Carlos Sainz is in the form of his lifetime. He has a 100% record of podium finishes so far in 2024 with a GP win in the kitty. The “unemployed” driver of Ferrari has been driving like there is no tomorrow or obstacle. The manner and unexpected nature of his ousting would hurt anyone unleashing the beast, even if it is in favor of 7 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Talking about his prospects, Sainz, who is talking to multiple teams, said, “The only thing I would say is that obviously, it’s time now to speed up a bit everything and hopefully we can get it sorted sooner rather than later.”

Toto Wolff has also expressed his interest in Sainz. He said, as quoted by Marca, “Those who are available, or who could be interesting for us, all have arguments in their favor. Whether it’s the very young ones, whether it’s the very experienced ones in their best years? Or Carlos (Sainz). It is a difficult choice. There are reasons to sign each one. I just want to take a step back and simply monitor the situation. Some of the guys mentioned may sign for other teams and that’s why, right now, I’m just looking at it.”

This surely is a very, very interesting pool to choose from and when the silly season announcements begin, we will surely be in for a treat.

Who do you think will be the second driver at Merćedes?