F1 Silly Season: Lame Duck Lewis Hamilton Says He'd Pick Kimi Antonelli to Replace Him

• Kimi Antonelli has also been participating in private test days with Mercedes.

• Antonelli tested the 2022-spec W13 at Imola last month is understood to have been impressive.

• Toto Wolff, team principal at Mercedes, is high on Antonelli, but quick to point out that the youngster has yet to turn 18 years old and might need a little more seasoning.

Lewis Hamilton replaced a Kimi when he debuted with McLaren, in the form of Räikkönen, and could be replaced by another Kimi at Mercedes.

Young gun Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli has been linked with a 2025 Mercedes Formula 1 seat, the speculation having been fueled by Mercedes’ reluctance to hurry in locking down a team-mate for George Russell, as well as the paucity of options on the market.

Speaking at Imola, when asked what he’d do in Toto Wolff’s position, Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes at season's end to join up with Ferrari, said: “I have no idea what Toto’s plans are but for me, taking on a youngster… If it was my job, if it was my role, I would probably take on Kimi.”

Antonelli has also been participating in private test days with Mercedes, and an outing in the 2022-spec W13 at Imola last month is understood to have been impressive. Mercedes technical director James Allison was certainly effusive about his potential.

“I have had the great pleasure of listening to the engineers describe the interaction with him,” Allison said. “Just a young, enthusiastic driver, very, very fast, metronomic in his pace. Has not been in an F1 car until recently, but made it look like he'd been in one for ages within a lap or two. He looks like a very promising young driver.”

Antonelli is only 17 and is embarking on his rookie Formula 2 campaign after jumping straight up from Formula Regional, bypassing Formula 3. The Italian moved up to sixth in the standings after a solid weekend on home soil at Imola, finishing fourth in the Feature Race.

Speaking after the F2 race, however, Wolff was keen to quiet the speculation.

“We are hyping that young man for a long time now, and he will be very good and a great driver one day in F1,” Wolff said. “But he’s 17, four months ago he drove an F4 car. And there’s so much expectations in Italy and we are a little bit guilty also of that, and I think we should let him do his F2 thing and deliver results and not be too carried away with what could be or should be.

"You know, look at George (Russell). He won F3 and F2 in his rookie year. And at the same time, Kimi has delivered in those junior series and is in F2 now so we’ll see. He’s going to be in F1 one day, but let’s not rush it.”