“The Boy to Replace Lewis”: Kimi Antonelli’s Hungarian GP Victory All but Ensures Future as Hamilton’s Replacement & Max Verstappen Successor

Mercedes ‘Chosen One’ has finally proven his worth! Formula 2 racer Kimi Antonelli grabbed victory at the Feature Race ahead of the Hungarian GP. This is the Italian’s second win in the season, the first being at the F2 Sprint in Silverstone a few weeks ago. The 17-year-old ignored all obstacles, as the Hungarian Feature Race threw a few safety car interruptions at him. And while Championship frontrunners like Isac Hadjar and Paul Aron found it difficult to race at the Hungaroring, Antonelli pulled off a clean P1 finish after starting seventh on the grid.

As one of the few racers who started on hard tires, Kimi climbed two places during the scuffle at the opening lap. During lap 7, race leader Aron clashed with Zane Maloney, giving way to a safety car situation. This was Antonelli’s chance as he grabbed the topmost position in the race. Again, at lap 22, Hitech’s Amaury Cordeel crashed, and this time, the safety car gave the Mercedes junior enough of a lead for him to easily soar to victory.

Antonelli’s win comes as a big reassurance for the young talent. Mercedes’ eyes have been on him ever since the team’s star racer, Lewis Hamilton, announced his exit. But recently, there were rumors that the Silver Arrows might also be interested in Carlos Sainz and even Max Verstappen, as Antonelli’s lack of experience in F1 was concerning. However, the Prema racer has put all rumors to rest now with a show of his superb talent at Hungaroring today. So, what did the fans have to say about this sweeping victory?

While the F1 world hasn’t been much acquainted with the talent that is Kimi Antonelli, there is no ignoring him now. The youngster is a product of Toto Wolff’s scouting. The Austrian wants to see him replace Lewis Hamilton for the team’s campaign next year. And now that he has proven himself with the roaring win at the Hungarian Feature Race, fans believe Kimi will be offered a deal from Mercedes anytime now.

Fans claim Kimi Antonelli has sealed the Mercedes deal

The Formula 1 fans came across the results of the F2 feature race that took place on Sunday a few hours before the Hungarian GP. Upon seeing the name of the winners, they quickly recognized that it was indeed the “boy to replace Lewis Hamilton“. An X user took to the microblogging site to say, “Is [that] the boy to replace Lewis? Was a race!” The excitement of the fans at seeing Antonelli’s win was pretty evident.

While Kimi Antonelli’s name has been in the mix, Mercedes has not yet announced him as their newest recruit. But rumors from all forums say that the Italian youngster has the deal in the bag. However, some speculations also claim that lack of experience might be a reason why Antonelli will miss out on Hamilton’s seat. But the Silver Arrows’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin negated this statement recently, saying, “Certainly, where we are in the competitive order doesn’t affect whether we’re looking for an experienced driver or a young driver.” The fans now want the Stuttgart outfit to offer Kimi a contract, as one of them wrote, “Give him the contract already.” However, the Silver Arrows have remained silent on this matter, as they are perhaps still pondering upon some other options.

When Kimi Antonelli’s name was suggested to Toto Wolff during one of his interviews, the Austrian billionaire practically beamed. Speaking highly of the Mercedes junior, he had indicated Antonelli would be a part of Mercedes’ future. “For us [Mercedes], we’ve embarked on a route now to say, ‘You know what, we want to reinvent ourselves a little bit, going forward.’ Kimi Antonelli definitely plays a part in that.” One of the netizens called on the team to hire the 17-year-old right away, saying, “Yooo he’s cooking. Give him the Mercedes seat.”

Toto Wolff has been witness to Kimi Antonelli’s growth in motorsports ever since the Italian’s karting days. The 52-year-old has even accepted that his team has joined the Antonelli hype train. The followers of Mercedes know how much Toto backs Kimi, so one of them wrote, “Toto must go with his instinct and pick this kid! They are good at nurturing and allowing space for growth, he will be just fine!”

The next Championship season will be the last time the F1 teams race under the existing regulations. After that, the cars will change a lot because of the 2026 rules that the FIA will declare. So, Mercedes is expected to produce a challenger that matches the one that has won Lewis Hamilton his 104th Grand Prix in Great Britain recently. One of the fans said, “Put him (Antonelli) in the car brev.”

Even before he started winning races, Kimi Antonelli was a hot topic in F1 town. And now, the fans’ interest in him has gone up several notches. But at just 17, the pressure of racing for a top team like Mercedes might be too much for the youngster. Comment below if you think Kimi can handle the pressure of stepping into Lewis Hamilton’s shoes to shine for Mercedes next season.