Toto Wolff Reveals Fear Of Missing Out On Kimi Antonelli Amid Lewis Hamilton Struggles

Saajan Jogia | Jan 7, 2025

Toto Wolff 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, Friday - LAT Images / Mercedes Press Image

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed his fear about potentially missing out on signing Andrea Kimi Antonelli while Lewis Hamilton was still part of the team last year. Wolff admitted to being torn between maintaining the long-standing and successful partnership with the seven-time world champion and ensuring Mercedes secured the highly promising Antonelli. Ultimately, Hamilton’s surprise move to Ferrari cleared the way for Wolff to bring Antonelli on board, starting from the 2025 season.

Hamilton's 12-year partnership with the Brackley outfit brought immense success, including eight Constructors' Championships and six Drivers' titles. However, Mercedes' struggles in the ground-effect era, which began in 2022, saw the team falter in delivering a competitive and well-balanced F1 car. This lack of progress pushed Hamilton to explore other opportunities to secure his eighth championship title.

The 40-year-old driver will step into a Ferrari F1 car in red overalls this year, which Wolff describes as "weird." However, the move paved the way for the Austrian team boss to secure Kimi Antonelli, a junior driver he had monitored for a while. Wolff was determined not to miss the opportunity to sign Antonelli, as he had with Max Verstappen before the Dutchman joined Red Bull. Speaking on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, Wolff explained:

"It was a curve ball thrown at us, and it still feels weird that he's gonna wear Ferrari overalls and drive the red car.

"It's just a bit surreal. But we had this 17-year-old in the pipeline [Kimi Antonelli].

"I didn't want to miss out on him, like I did with Max [Verstappen] back in the day, [when] I didn't have a car [for him], so that is all falling into place.

"And I can kind of get where he's coming from, because we weren't successful. Our car was not quick enough, certainly he had a mega offer on the table, [and] every Formula 1 driver wants to drive a Ferrari."

Wolff admitted that he was relieved after Hamilton had signed with Ferrari as he could now sign Kimi Antonelli. He added:

"Absolutely. I couldn't make the decision from a personal standpoint - we owe him so much.

"And I didn't want to do the decision, as Mercedes, letting the greatest champion ever go. 

"Maybe he felt that also, that's part of it, and he knew that Antonelli was in the pipeline. It was something that I almost had in the back of my mind, that that would happen."