Have teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli's recent first two wins in F2 increased his chance of landing a 2025 Mercedes seat? And are Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz still in the frame? watch all of the Belgian GP this weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's race at 2pm
Thursday 25 July 2024 06:44, UK
Toto Wolff believes Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli made a "statement" by winning his maiden full-length Formula 2 race last week - but the Mercedes boss continues to insist they will still not be rushing their decision about who replaces Lewis Hamilton next season.
Five months on from being told the shock news by Hamilton that he was enacting a break clause in his new two-year Mercedes contract to leave for Ferrari at the end of this year, Mercedes are still yet to decide who will partner George Russell in place of the seven-time world champion in 2025.
Wolff has repeatedly said when quizzed on the matter over recent months that Mercedes will take their time in deciding who to put in the seat, with their priority having been to improve their car.
While the Mercedes team principal has made no secret of his interest in reigning world champion Max Verstappen were the Red Bull driver to become available, Antonelli - who turns 18 in August - has long appeared the more likely solution for at least 2025 given he is already on the team's books as a junior driver and is considered one of the hottest prospects in motorsport.
Antonelli's maiden season in F2 so far this year has proved less eye-catching than widely envisaged amid a disappointing 2024 for the team he is driving for, Prema.
Yet, in what could perhaps be regarded as significant timing given the coveted Mercedes F1 seat he is in the running for remains vacant, the past two events in the feeder series have seen Antonelli win his first races in the category.
The 17-year-old first won the short-form reverse-grid Sprint Race from pole at a rain-drenched Silverstone before impressively triumphing in the main Feature Race in Hungary last Sunday.
"Kimi did a good job and that was a dominant win," said Wolff, Mercedes' team principal, of Antonelli's win from seventh on the grid at the Hungaroring.
"With two different tyre compounds, he was really strong and it was deserved. But we have never doubted his pace.
"He had such a fast development that it's about learning, tyre management and all these things. That's why today was a statement, and that's good."
Antonelli is team-mate in F2 to Britain's Oliver Bearman - who has already been signed to an F1 seat at Haas for next year after impressing in practice outings for the team and in March's Saudi Arabian GP for Ferrari - and both had expected to be title contenders in the feeder series this year given Prema have traditionally been one of the category's strongest outfits.
Antonelli is, however, 50 points ahead of Bearman in sixth place in the standings.
In addition to running him in F2, Mercedes have also organised an F1 test programme for the Italian youngster in older cars through this year - "encouraging" data from which the former champions have direct access to and which Wolff confirmed will help shape their decision on whether to ultimately hand him Hamilton's seat.
"We sometimes forget and [have to] remind yourself how stupid you were at 17," said Wolff. "I clearly can tell you, my lack of maturity would have never allowed me to take clear decisions in such a highly-competitive field.
"Just a few years ago he's been in the karting, then in F4, then in Regional [Formula Regional European Championship] and now he's in an F2 field under the eyes of the world for this Mercedes seat.
"What I'd like to see from him is doing mistakes and learning from them, continuing to guide the team now to improve the performance for Prema, tyre management, reading the race, reading the tyre.
"All of that he has done [in the Hungary Feature Race] and now we need to see whether he can consolidate on that level. But in F2 it's always very difficult to judge so what we see ourselves is the data of the Formula 1 testing, and that's encouraging."
Although Red Bull boss Christian Horner has scoffed at some of rival Wolff's public comments about Mercedes' interest in Verstappen, and the world champion himself said, after being pushed to provide a firm answer by the media, at June's Austrian GP that he would be staying where he is for 2025, speculation about him defecting to Mercedes has never truly gone away despite the Dutchman's contract at his current team ostensibly running for another four seasons.
Indeed, speaking to Sky Sports F1 at the Hungarian GP about the latest state of play in Mercedes' 2025 driver deliberations, Wolff cryptically suggested he sensed it was wise to continue waiting before making a decision on their vacant seat.
"As for the rest of the driver market, there is something instinctive that tells me don't rush and I couldn't tell you what it is," he said.
Two days later, Wolff was asked directly by the media about Verstappen again - this time whether the series of angry and agitated radio messages from the Dutchman to the Red Bull pit wall during last Sunday's Hungary race amid frustration with the world champions' car could aid Mercedes' pursuit of him.
"I don't know. What I will say is we need to concentrate on our car and our performance and take a decision on the drivers later in the year," insisted Wolff.
"When all the dust settles, what is best for Mercedes?
"I can't look too much left what's happening in Red Bull or what's happening in another team, I want to concentrate on us. Us today means Kimi in F2 and our two drivers in F1."
It has been understood that Verstappen's Red Bull deal contains a so-called 'Helmut Marko clause', whereby the triple world champion would be free to leave should he wish if the veteran Austrian adviser was no longer involved with the team. Motorsport.com reported in recent days that Marko - whose own future had appeared in serious doubt earlier in the year amid upheaval at the team - had formally committed his future to staying with the world campions to the end of his own exisiting contract in 2026.
Outside of Verstappen and Antonelli, the fact that three-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz - who has lost his Ferrari seat to Hamilton - remains on the driver market into the summer despite having offers from further down the grid means Mercedes have another experienced option to consider should they need it.
Mercedes' recent upturn in form has also placed them back into contention for race wins and podiums - a situation Sainz is used to - in a trend they would hope to continue into 2025
Thursday July 25
1.30pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday July 26
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Belgian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
2pm: F3 Qualifying
2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Belgian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5:15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday July 27
8:45am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Belgian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 28
7:25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday - Belgian GP build-up*
2pm: The BELGIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
The action continues this weekend with the final race before F1's summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix. You can watch every session from Spa-Francorchamps live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
