Antonelli named Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes F1 team

Italian youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli will join George Russell as a driver at the Mercedes-Benz AMG Formula 1 team in 2025.

Already widely rumored in the prior month, Mercedes formally announced the decision this week.

Antonelli, 18, fills the seat of seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton who joins Ferrari next year. Hamilton won six of his titles with Mercedes but the team’s poor performance in recent years prompted him to change squads.

Hamilton will fill the seat of Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. Although there was early talk of Sainz possibly joining Mercedes, or even Sauber which becomes Audi in 2026, the Spanish driver in July confirmed he will drive with Williams as the replacement for U.S. driver Logan Sargeant.

Antonelli was a participant in Mercedes’ driver development program and delivered multiple successes in ADAC and Italian F4 championships in 2022, as well as in the highly competitive Formula Regional European championship in 2023. He’s also had some wins in F2 this year.

Mercedes said the young driver has shown impressive speed, including during a stint at a practice session for last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, his first time participating in an F1 weekend. However he crashed shortly after the start of the session.

Antonelli won’t be the only new driver on the grid next year. Australian Jack Doohan joins Williams and Brit Oliver Bearman joins Haas.

Sauber and RB each have an empty seat remaining.