Mercedes has ended months of speculation with the announcement of Italian driver Kimi Antonelli as its Lewis Hamilton replacement for 2025. The 18-year-old is one of the hottest prospects in motorsport and joins George Russell to complete the Brackley-based team’s driver lineup.

Antonelli, the son of a former racing driver, began karting at eight years old, winning multiple titles before stepping up to professional racing in 2021. From there, he picked up titles in the 2022 Italian F4 Championship, 2022 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship and 2023 Formula Regional European Championship, cementing his status as a star of the future.

His talent has been closely watched since joining the Mercedes Junior Team as a 12 year old in 2019 and there was plenty of speculation as to whether Antonelli should be allowed to bed in at a smaller team before getting the drive at Mercedes. However, after Lewis Hamilton’s imminent departure to Ferrari and with Max Verstappen a difficult move to complete, Antonelli will be given the chance to prove himself as a rookie at one of the top teams on the grid.

Like Russell, Antonelli now graduates from Mercedes’ junior programme to the highest level of motorsport, something that Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff was particularly pleased about.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team: “Our 2025 driver line-up combines experience, talent, youth and out-and-out raw speed. We are excited about what George and Kimi bring to the team both as individual drivers, but also as a partnership. Our new line-up is perfect to open the next chapter in our story. It is also a testament to the strength of our junior programme and our belief in home-grown talent.”

George Russell: “I’m really excited to be partnering with Kimi for 2025. His record in junior formula has been formidable and his promotion is truly deserved. He’s a fantastic young talent and a fellow graduate of our junior programme. I look forward to using the experience I’ve gained from my own journey to provide guidance to Kimi as he makes the step up to F1. I know how much of a support Lewis was for me throughout my time as a junior driver and since I’ve been his team-mate. I’ve learned so much from him and I hope to play a similar role for Kimi.”

Antonelli has been combining his role as a test driver for Mercedes this season with duties in F2. He was given his debut practice outing during Friday’s Italian Grand Prix practice and suffered an unfortunate crash just 10 minutes into the session.

There are now only two unconfirmed places at RB and Audi (formerly Sauber) remaining on the grid for 2025.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Mercedes AMG F1
video: Sky Sports F1