“A great talent” - Lewis Hamilton’s potential Mercedes successor praised by Luca Ghiotto

Former F2 driver Luca Ghiotto was full of praise for Lewis Hamilton's potential replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli. The 18-year-old has been heavily linked with the seven-time world champion's seat on the German team for the 2025 season.

In early February, the 39-year-old announced that he would be joining Ferrari to partner alongside Charles Leclerc from 2025 onwards, ending his 12-year-long partnership with the Brackley-based outfit. The news of his departure came as a shock to the world of motorsport as Hamilton had signed a new contract with Mercedes in August 2023 but the Italian team activated the release clause to sign the Brit.

Speaking with PitDebrief, Ghiotto spoke about Antonelli's talent behind the wheel and said:

“Kimi is a great talent. I really hope for him to get to F1, especially because I feel like I come from an era where there were some good Italian drivers that deserved a chance but didn’t have it. So I hope he gets the chance because that would mean that there’s still space here for us, not only for other drivers.

"I still feel like drivers like Kimi deserve a chance and I really hope he gets the chance, even though for sure it doesn’t look like he will be driving for Ferrari, but he will be driving for something else. I hope he does."

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Former F2 driver gives his take on Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari

Italian driver Luca Ghiotto was optimistic about Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari as he believed that the seven-time world champion would bring experience to the team.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 29-year-old stated that Hamilton could be beneficial for the Prancing Horses and even teach teammate Charles Leclerc during their time as teammates. He said:

“I think he still has the ability, even though he has been racing in F1 for a long time and he’s getting quite old, or let’s say towards the 40-year-old. He still has the anger and the will to win by himself, but even if he doesn’t do it, he can bring a lot of experience to the team.

"He can teach a lot to Charles, which will be useful for him as well. I don’t see, honestly, for next year a better driver line-up because Charles has proved himself to be really quick while Hamilton has done crazy things in the past."

Lewis Hamilton would head into Ferrari full of confidence as he has regained his race-winning mojo back as was evident during his wins at the British GP and Belgian GP before the summer break.

The British driver is currently P6 in the Drivers' championship with 150 points. He is 27 points behind his future teammate Charles Leclerc, who sits in P3, with ten races and three Sprints remaining in the 2024 season.