“Kimi Raikkonen?”: George Russell jokes about Antonelli as prospective Lewis Hamilton replacement at Mercedes

George Russell made a lightehearted joke about potential future teammate Kimi Antonelli ahead of the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix. The Mercedes star was asked if he was ready to welcome the young Italian to the team next year. Russell jokingly asked if Antonelli's namesake Raikkonen would be his next teammate.

During the 2024 Dutch GP press conference, Russell was asked if he was ready to welcome Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes next season as his teammate.

"Kimi Raikkonen?" asked George Russell with a sarcastic take and smiled, as per Sky Sports. "He's in F2 by the way. I think whoever is going to be my teammate next year, of course we'll welcome them."

You can watch the video from the press conference below (shared by F1 fan @leclercsletters on X):

Kimi Raikkonen, a former F1 driver, and Ferrari's last drivers' champion, has been a renowned and popular figure in the F1 paddock for almost two decades. The Finnish driver retired from the sport at the end of 2022.

Antonelli, who is also named Kimi, is the new kid on the block and already started taking the F1 scene by storm. The Mercedes prodigy is being heavily linked as the Silver Arrows' candidate to replace Lewis Hamilton next season and drive alongside Russell.

While Toto Wolff's team has yet to make a final decision on this, they will put the Italian prodigy in charge of Hamilton's #44 car in Italy for a short stint. The 17-year-old will replace Hamilton in FP1 of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

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"He's an excellent driver" - George Russell praises Kimi Antonelli

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Photo via Getty Images)

A few moments after making his joke, George Russell gave his thoughts on Kimi Antonelli. Praising the prodigy, the #63 driver said the former has been exceptional throughout his junior racing disciplines.

"Kimi's an exceptional driver," George Russell said. "[He has] such an amazing track record in his junior series, always destined to be a Formula One driver."

Kimi Antonelli is competing in F2 with Prema Racing this season. The Italian driver has already raked in two victories and two podiums in 16 F2 races. He has been a part of the Mercedes Junior Team since 2019.

The 17-year-old comes with multiple titles to his name: the 2022 Italian F4 Championship, 2022 ADAC Formula 4, 2022 FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup, 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship, and 2023 Formula Regional European Championship, to name a few.