Toto Wolff addresses rumors of Kimi Antonelli being faster than George Russell in Mercedes testing program

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has dismissed speculation that Kimi Antonelli was faster than George Russell in the team's testing program. Much hype has been built around young Kimi and how he might be the next big talent in F1 after Max Verstappen.

Kimi Antonelli has obtained the required Super Licence points and is currently racing in F2 after skipping F3. Lewis Hamilton's announcement early in the year that he would be leaving the team for Ferrari came as a surprise while also setting the wheels in motion for finding a replacement.

While Kimi Antonelli's name has been attached to Mercedes, many feel that the driver needs to be given time to mature. The young driver is not dominating F2 in a manner that would warrant a promotion. However, the team is in a position to evaluate him and has not denied that the driver will be a contender for the seat.

In a recent private test that involved all three drivers, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Mick Schumacher, it is rumored that the youngster came out as the quickest. Wolff quashed these rumors as he told Sky Germany (via Racing News 365):

"They both completed the program that we gave them, and the performance was exactly what we expected. Some of this talk that Kimi was faster than George and much faster than Mick is absolute nonsense. They all drove different programs."

He added:

“All three were equally fast, George was by far the fastest and that's the way it should be, but we ran our programmes. It was not about setting fast times."

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Mercedes boss hints Carlos Sainz might not get the seat

The Mercedes boss also claimed that young drivers like Kimi Antonelli will continue to be the future of the team and that is the direction in which he wants to invest his energy. Wolff also touched on the conversations he's had with Carlos Sainz for a prospective seat on the team.

Wolff claimed that Carlos Sainz had been told that the direction Mercedes would take in the future would involve young drivers like Kimi. He said (via Racing News 365):

“We just want to concentrate on Kimi, that is our future, young drivers. We want to commit to that, to young drivers and that is what we’ve told Carlos."

It does appear that if the Mercedes door is closed, Sainz has two options: Williams and Audi. James Vowles has openly courted Carlos Sainz to Williams. It will be interesting to see what would be the Spaniard's final call.

On the other side, Kimi Antonelli might have impressed the German squad in private tests, but the F2 record is not as eye-catching as it should be. The Italian has not even scored a podium and that landmark result is still missing.