Lewis Hamilton replacement poised for Mercedes F1 debut as Max Verstappen hopes fade

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the driver widely regarded as the favourite to replace Lewis Hamilton for the F1 2025 season, is reportedly set to make his Mercedes F1 debut in practice at the Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli is increasingly likely to be named as Hamilton ‘s successor for F1 2025, with reports from Italy earlier this month claiming a deal has been reached for the teenage sensation to become George Russell’s new Mercedes team-mate.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli set to replace Lewis Hamilton for Monza FP1

Hamilton announced earlier this year that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract next season, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes stretching back to the start of his F1 career with McLaren in 2007.

Mercedes have been persistently linked with an ambitious move for Max Verstappen, the reigning three-time World Champion, over recent months, with team boss Toto Wolff making no secret of his desire to sign the Red Bull driver.

However, a report by Dutch publication De Telegraaf on Wednesday claimed that Mercedes decided to postpone their pursuit of Verstappen over the recent summer break.

It remains to be seen whether the team will renew their interest in Verstappen ahead of F1’s major regulation changes in 2026.

With Mercedes widely expected to confirm the signing of Antonelli ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, it has emerged that the teenager is set to make his first appearance on an official F1 race weekend at Monza.

A report by Motorsport.com has claimed that Antonelli will drive Hamilton’s car in the opening practice session in Italy as Mercedes meet the requirement to run a rookie driver in two FP1 sessions across the season.

It is said that the decision to place Antonelli in Hamilton’s car at Monza is to give him experience of working with Pete Bonnington, Hamilton’s long-serving race engineer.

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PlanetF1.com reported on Tuesday (bottom)  that Bonnington has been promoted to the role of head of race engineering with immediate effect, but will continue to work closely with Hamilton across the remaining 10 races of the F1 2024 season.

Bonnington is expected to remain as a race engineer to one of Mercedes’ drivers – most likely Antonelli – in F1 2025. Marcus Dudley is currently the race engineer to George Russell, having stepped into the role last year.

With Antonelli long regarded as a star of the future, the Italian commenced an extensive F1 testing program earlier this year to prepare for a likely grand prix promotion, taking to the wheel of Mercedes’ 2021 and 2022 cars at such circuits as Imola, Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring and Spa.

Bonnington was reportedly present to oversee Antonelli’s progress in a Pirelli tyre test following July’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

After a slow start to his season in F2 (formerly GP2), the prestigious F1 feeder series previously won by Hamilton and Russell, Antonelli has come to the fore over recent months, winning convincingly in Britain and Hungary.

Antonelli will turn 18 on Sunday as the F1 2024 season resumes at Zandvoort.

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