Antonelli-Mercedes, Will Buxton confirms: “Wolff has decided”

'Latin derby for post-Hamilton

Week after week within the Formula 1 paddock there is more and more curiosity to understand when Toto Wolff and Mercedes will take over final decision regarding the driver who will replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Fernando Alonso's renewal with Aston Martin has eliminated a candidate from contention and the rumors surrounding Max Verstappen have faded compared to recent months, a sign that perhaps the Dutch world champion may not be so inclined to say goodbye to Red Bull at the end 2024, also considering the evident disparity in performance that currently exists between the Milton Keynes team and the Brackley team in terms of performance on the track.

The candidatures of. therefore remain on the table Carlos Sainz and the very young Andrea Kimi Antonelli. But according to the well-known television commentator Will Buxton, the winner in this 'Latin derby' will be the Italian, currently working for the Prema team in Formula 1.

Revenge for not hiring Verstappen in 2014

Already at the beginning of February, at the same time as the announcement of Hamilton's move to Ferrari, we had underlined on FormulaPassion.it how Antonelli was the favorite to get into the car that belonged to the seven-time world champion. According to Buxton, who spoke at The Red Flags Podcast, Toto Wolff would still be burned by the failure to hire the young Verstappen 10 years ago and he wouldn't want to risk repeating the mistake with Antonelli.

“He wants Antonelli on that seat – Buxton ruled – because he is angry. He missed the chance to give Max the opportunity in 2014 and that's why he decided to put Antonelli behind the wheel straight away. 2025 would be difficult for Mercedes anyway – added Buxton – and to win you would still have to wait for the regulation change in 2026. So you can insert it without pressureintroducing him to the team and already having him work with George [Russell]. Thus it would be ready in 2026 for the new regulation“. The definitive confirmation of the feasibility of this operation would have been the excellent result obtained by Ollie Bearman – Antonelli's partner in F2 – on his debut with Ferrari in the Saudi Arabian GP.