Toto Wolff is enjoying the moment. The first press conference with the tandem of drivers that will bring the silver stars to the track in 2025 saw the Mercedes team principal at the center of the scene, with George Russell sitting to his right and Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the left. Lewis Hamilton’s departure creates a new scenario, both Russell and Antonelli are children of the team’s youth system, drivers that Wolff (together with his collaborators) has selected and supported in the preparatory path to Formula 1. For the first time he was able to sit between two of his ‘boys’, with a dose of pride that the team principal did not hide.
The spotlight was all on Antonelli, and it couldn’t have been otherwise. Russell’s contract extension (an option exercised by the team) was a given since the start of the season, Antonelli’s Formula 1 debut was anything but. Wolff, however, surprised everyone by confirming that in his head the Hamilton-Antonelli relay took shape a long time ago.
“Yes, I made my decision five minutes after I heard from Lewis that he was going to Ferrari,” he admitted. “Of course there were other options on the table, especially we also considered the Max option given what happened at Red Bull. But instinctively these two guys sitting next to me are the line-up I always thought of. We accelerated Kimi’s program, and here we are.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
The word immediately passed to Antonelli, and obviously even before the compliments for having achieved an exceptional finish, Kimi was asked a series of questions about the accident he was involved in yesterday’s FP1 session. “It certainly wasn’t the ideal start,” Kimi commented. “I learned my lesson but honestly I would have liked to have done it differently. I can’t go out on track looking for the limit straight away, the track was very slippery and the grip was lower than expected. I pushed too much, for sure in the next few occasions I will just try to get to the limit progressively.”
“The next 30 minutes immediately after the accident were really difficult,” Antonelli added, “but then I had to reset everything because I had to get back on track for F2 qualifying straight away, and that helped me turn the page.” “We are in Formula 1 and each of us has a lot of responsibility,” Wolff added, “we are a working group of 1000 people, and I think Kimi learned yesterday what that means. It was hard for him to hear that his mistake made George’s job harder.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes F1 W15, after the accident during FP1
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Antonelli talked about his first laps at the wheel of a Formula 1, his test program (which will continue) with the 2022 single-seater, his choice to race with the number 12 (“I have always used it since F4, I have no reason to change it”) and his awareness of the great work that awaits him. Then the word returned to Wolff, who wanted to clear the field of a big question mark that hovers over the future of the team. And if Verstappen were to be released in view of 2026?
“Our focus now is on George and Kimi, I repeat. These two guys are the future, obviously the most important thing will be to see how George and Kimi will settle in as a tandem, but I really don’t see any reason at this stage not to give them the confidence. We wouldn’t have opted for George and Kimi if we weren’t 100% convinced that they are the best choice for Mercedes. Now we will focus on the end of this season and the next, then when we talk about 2026 we will do it very openly.
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