Mercedes Chief Outlines Plan For First Season Without Lewis Hamilton

Saajan Jogia | 3 Hours Ago

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Toto Wolff | 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Friday - Jiri Krenek /

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has laid out a plan for the 2025 season, the team's first year without Lewis Hamilton since his joining in 2013. Being one of the five teams on the F1 grid that sport a rookie driver next year, Mercedes seems to have a clear plan with Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Wolff revealed that he made the decision to sign Kimi Antonelli for 2025 just five minutes after learning about the seven-time world champion's move to Ferrari. However, the official announcement wasn’t made until the Italian Grand Prix.

While Kimi Antonelli displayed exceptional speed at Monza, he also suffered a heavy crash in his FP1 run. Given his debut season in F1 next year, Wolff hinted that he is prepared for surprises. Russell, meanwhile, has been declared as the lead driver of Mercedes and will steer the team in the championship battle next season if it remains one of the favorites.

Wolff emphasized that 2025 will be about "managing expectations" for Kimi Antonelli and preparing a base for the team's 2026 driver lineup when Formula 1 enters a new era of regulations. Thus, its strategy next year will be entirely different from what it has adopted in all these years with Hamilton. While Wolff remains hopeful about competing among the top teams next season, he acknowledged that maintaining a competitive position will require a determined effort. He said:

"Obviously, 2025 is the same regulations and you can see that the pecking order varies depending on the track.

"I think the opportunity is there to fight for victories, and if you can do that, you will fight for the championship.

"George will settle in as the leading and senior driver, and Kimi is going to learn, and sometimes we will tear our hair out, and other times, we will see moments of brilliance.

"But it is going to be a year of managing expectations for Kimi and preparing our driver line-up for 2026.

"When you look at the wins this year, Red Bull's year was defined by victories at the beginning of the year, but you will have better data if you look from half the year with four teams really close.

"McLaren won six, Ferrari five, us four and Red Bull [nine]. 

"I would love to be in the fight with the other teams, we'd love to compete for victories on merit, but it is not a given, it is absolutely something we need to fight for."