Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the team is in a “rebuild phase” that is influencing its decision on who replaces Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
Hamilton’s bombshell choice to trigger an exit clause in his Mercedes contract to seal a switch to Ferrari has left it scrambling to sign a replacement for next term.
Wolff has been clear in the public domain that he is assessing the ongoing situation at Red Bull to pounce in the circumstance where Max Verstappen opts to leave.
But while Red Bull has continued to dominate, Mercedes has endured a disastrous start with correlation problems contributing to its worst points total since 2011.
It has been touted that the German marque’s recurring struggles could see Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 17, receive a promotion to the works team straight from Formula 2.
However, Carlos Sainz, who will vacate his place to accommodate Hamilton’s arrival, has been touted in Italian media as the leading name to partner George Russell.
Asked whether Mercedes’ current predicament made it more enticing to put a rookie in the car in 2025, Wolff said: “I think you can look at it from various perspectives.
“I believe that we are in a rebuilt phase. You need to acknowledge that now three years into these regulations we got to do things differently than we have done in the past without throwing overboard what we believe is goodness in the way we operate.
“Rebuilt could mean putting a young driver in there and giving him an opportunity with less pressure and fighting for victories immediately or putting a more experienced driver in the car that can help us dig ourselves out of the current performance picture.”
Mercedes has planned Antonelli’s first test outing in an F1 car to take place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria next week with its W12, which won nine races back in 2021.
While the regulations now permit using a ground effect car from 2022, Wolff explains that it wanted to hand the Italian the chance to sample a competitive machine.
“The programme of Kimi driving Formula 1 has been in place for a long time and hasn’t changed massively over the last few weeks,” Wolff said.
“What we have done is added more days, but what you will see in the next few months has been in place, whether or not he’s going to sit in a Formula 1 car next year.
“We’re going to do a few of these days for him to get comfortable in an F1 car. He’s driving the 2021 car in Austria for the first time.
“We want to give him a feeling what a really good car feels like before we put him in the ’22.
“Obviously, he’s been our young boy since a long time, with James [Vowles], and we’re keen to see what he’s able to do in a Formula 1 car.
Antonelli’s debut season in F2 has seen him register a best result of fourth in the Australia Feature race, leaving him ninth in the Drivers’ Championship on 24 points.
However, Wolff has pointed out how Antonelli’s Prema team-mate Oliver Bearman excelled when he substituted for the unwell Sainz in Saudi Arabia, finishing seventh.
“Ollie Bearman was refreshing to look at how competitive he was in Saudi Arabia,” he continued.
“No free practice, high speed, complicated track, and he was right up there. So Kimi would be doing just fine.”
