Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed it took him just five minutes to decide who would replace Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time F1 champion told him he would be joining Ferrari.
Wolff was conducting what he assumed was a normal pre-season discussion with Hamilton in January when the 39-year-old dropped his bombshell that he would leave Mercedes after 12 years at the end of this season and switch to the Scuderia.
Wolff has previously revealed that whilst stung at the time, he was very pragmatic in handling the news. It has now emerged to such an extent that his immediate thoughts turned to Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
"I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he's going to Ferrari," confirmed Wolff, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, following confirmation 18-year-old Antonelli will be a Mercedes driver in 2025.
Over the months that followed, however, Mercedes was linked with Carlos Sainz and notably Max Verstappen. Wolff has made his pursuit of the three-time F1 champion very public over the last few months.
"Obviously, you know we were discussing with other options, and also kept the Max idea," added Wolff. "I didn't discount it completely with looking at what happened at Red Bull."
With Mercedes junior Antonelli now in partnership with George Russell for next season, Wolff said: "Instinctively, this is the line-up, with these two, that I always wanted.
"Bearing in mind the fast tracking that we did with Kimi, and everything related there too, but that was immediately what I wanted to do."
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Russell and Antonelli "to settle in"
Mercedes, however, has opted not to reveal the extent of Antonelli's contract, seemingly leaving the door ajar for Wolff to maintain his pursuit of Verstappen next year with the aim of signing him for 2026.
As to whether Russell or Antonelli would be alongside the Dutchman, the results of next season will tell.
For now, Wolff stated: "Like we've done in the past, we have always had very short contracts with each of the drivers, even with Lewis last time around it was one plus one, and this is, in a way, how the team has operated.
"But I think most important is to see how George and Kimi settle in. I see no reason of not giving them the faith and the trust of going forward.
"What that means for the terms is something that we will discuss between ourselves, but we wouldn't have gone for the line-up with these two if we wouldn't believe 100% that they are the other best choice for Mercedes."
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