Mercedes honcho Toto Wolff shares what he told Carlos Sainz during their discussion - “Kimi Antonelli is our future”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Carlos Sainz that Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the team's future and is also bringing focus to working with younger drivers. This comes after the Ferrari driver's reported talks with the team earlier this season.

As Lewis Hamilton is set to replace Sainz in 2025, the Spaniard has been linked to top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull. However, the latter announced Sergio Perez's two-year contract extension, which shrinks his options. While Sainz was also linked to Audi, who is set to take over Sauber in 2026, it was reported that he denied the offer to make a deal with Mercedes.

However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff seems to have other priorities. Speaking to Sky Germany, he revealed that the team's future was Kimi Antonelli, their junior driver, which he said to Carlos Sainz as well.

"We just want to concentrate on Andrea Kimi Antonelli," PlanetF1 quoted Wolff as saying. "He [Kimi Antonelli] is our future. We want to work for the young drivers. We also said that to Carlos. We haven’t made a decision yet. There are others that could also be of interest to us."

Antonelli currently races in Formula 2 and has been impressive so far. He recently did a debut F1 test with Mercedes.

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Carlos Sainz hints at making a decision regarding his F1 future

No major teams have a spot left for the 29-year-old in the next F1 season. With Mercedes, it was earlier reported that they were ready to offer Carlos Sainz a one-year contract, but he wanted to stick on a long term.

Sainz recently talked about the contract situation surrounding him and the teams that were linked to him. When F1TV asked the Spaniard about Perez's contract extension, he revealed that he was aware of it before the announcement.

"Obviously, the news that you’ve seen this week, I know from the inside a lot earlier than you guys [the media], because I’m in touch with all those teams, and it’s no surprise for me," Sainz said.

Carlos Sainz added that he is currently focused on his season with Ferrari and would make the decision when he has all the options at the "top of the table":

"My head is busy with trying to perform in Ferrari, and trying to win, and once I have all the options in front of me, on top of the table, that my management team is sorting out, it will be time to take a decision."