F1 | Mercedes-Antonelli: only the (distant) hope Verstappen delays the announcement

The more the 2025 team-driver puzzle takes shape, the easier it becomes to associate even the unofficially announced pairings. In Germany the media have been aware of a truth that has been clear to everyone for some time now: Mercedes will be at the start of the next Formula 1 world championship with Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell. It’s true that the official announcement is missing, and it’s also true that real shock news has taken shape in the Formula 1 paddock in recent months, so a little caution isn’t out of place.

Putting sensational scenarios aside (the only one that can fit into this story is Max Verstappen’s farewell to Red Bull) Mercedes’ line is very clear. Toto Wolff is skilled at dribbling direct questions, his answers are always designed so as not to offer the possibility of titles, but in fact he has never denied the possibility of seeing Antonelli in Formula 1 next year alongside Russell.

If there hadn’t been the earthquake that hit Red Bull starting last February, Antonelli would probably have already been officially announced as a Mercedes F1 driver in 2025. But Horner-gate has created strong rifts within Milton Keynes, and Wolff wants to be first on the list if Verstappen decides to change scenery and look for alternatives. There now seems to be a peace between Max and Christian Horner (no one knows how armed) which suits both of them, probably destined to last a year or so, but at the moment the future matters little.

For the rest everything has been clear for months. If Mercedes has declined the offers of Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz, it means that a decision has already been made, probably already last winter, in the aftermath of the shock announcement that made Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari official. Russell cannot drive two single-seaters, Mick Schumacher was dumped some time ago, and narrowing the circle, only one name remains.

Another confirmation, unofficial but quite explicit, was the test program with the 2022 single-seater that Mercedes set up for Antonelli. At the moment Kimi has completed eight days of testing between Spielberg, Imola, Silverstone and Barcelona, ​​and will probably continue in the summer. It is difficult to believe that Mercedes would launch a program of this magnitude to prepare Antonelli for a debut in Williams, and speaking of the English team, another indirect confirmation was its entry into the drivers’ market even after Albon’s confirmation. An admission that Kimi won’t be in those parts next year.

There will be no contract to sign between Antonelli and Mercedes, Kimi has been part of the Mercedes family for years and as expected for all the ‘junior’ drivers of the academy, if the promotion to Formula 1 takes place at least for the first two years everything is already defined . Between Antonelli and the official announcement there is only that very thin thread of hope that Wolff still has about Verstappen, but now it seems that he will talk about it again in twelve months. A scenario which in that case will see Kimi having played half a season and Russell expiring. But that will be another story.