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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has dropped a major hint about Kimi Antonelli replacing Lewis Hamilton next year. The German team was shocked by the decision made by the British driver early in the season to move to Ferrari. That decision has meant that there is a seat vacant on the team and there have been quite a few drivers who are in contention.
Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli is one of these drivers who has been earmarked by many as the next Max Verstappen. After winning FRECA last season, the Italian skipped Formula 3 and has moved to Formula 2. The move is yet to see Antonelli impress as much as the hype is there, but the team seems happy with how he has performed.
As Lewis Hamilton's replacement, there are quite a few drivers that are in contention for that seat. One of the names doing the rounds is Carlos Sainz, who has been reportedly offered a short-term contract.
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Talking to Sky Sports F1 about Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari and being seen in red overalls, the Mercedes boss dropped a hint of Kimi Antonelli getting the nod next season. He said:
"We haven’t spoken about it [Hamilton in Italy] because there are 100 million people that watch every grand prix and then there are obviously the local Italians here. But I guess for the Italians, it is super exciting to have Lewis Hamilton in red next year. We will get used to the outfits. But we’ve got to look at ourselves and maybe there is an option that we shine more with an Italian in our car.”
Karun Chandhok shares glowing feedback for the Mercedes junior
Karun Chandhok was also part of the Sky Sports broadcast, where he shared the feedback he got about Kimi Antonelli. Talking about how he first saw Antonelli earlier in the year and had a chat with driver coach Warren Hughes, Chandhok revealed that Antonelli was termed the best driver in an F3 since Max Verstappen. He said:
"I saw him firsthand, it was earlier this year, he was testing an F1 car and it was devastatingly impressive. Chatting with the engineers and the driver coach Warren Hughes who I’ve known for a very long time was there, they were all unbelievably impressed. The line I got from the engineer was he’s the best driver we’ve seen in an F3 car since Max Verstappen.”
The kind of hype and glowing praise coming towards Kimi Antonelli is certainly astounding. Having said that, his F2 campaign continues to stutter. The young Mercedes driver is yet to have an impact in Formula 2 and even secure a podium. With such results, it begs the question if he should be given more time to adjust before the impending promotion.
