F1 News: Guenther Steiner hands Mercedes advice in Hamilton replacement hunt

Hamilton, Verstappen, Red Bull, Mercedes, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Steiner hands Mercedes advice in Hamilton replacement hunt

Guenther Steiner believes Toto Wolff should wait for Mercedes driver pick

Shay Rogers

Monday 4 March 2024 11:57

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Guenther Steiner has revealed when he believes Mercedes should pick a replacement for the departing Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton will leave the Silver Arrows after 11 years together to join Ferrari for 2025.

Two years without a race victory left the Brit hungry for a new project, but also means that the German manufacturer have a big hole to fill in one of their cars.

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There are plenty of options on the market, with a plethora of drivers out of contract soon – affording Toto Wolff the opportunity to pick between experience and speed.

Candidates mentioned range from Esteban Ocon to Andrea Kimi Antonelli and even Sebastian Vettel – which could bring around one of the biggest shakeups to the grid in history.

Toto Wolff has been Mercedes boss for 11 years

Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025

Gunether Steiner led Haas F1 team for nearly a decade

Steiner: Toto's in a very good position

Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner believes that Toto Wolff is doing the right thing by waiting to make a decision.

“I think he’s looking for speed, somebody consistent, but also somebody maybe for the future,” he said. “Toto’s in a very good position, because nothing will move until he moves.

“Obviously they have got the young driver Kimi Antonelli in Formula 2, which he’s a prodigy of Mercedes since, I don’t know how many years.

“Maybe he’s a talent like Max Verstappen, which came out of the old Formula 3 straight into Formula 1. If Kimi can do the same, I think Toto can take the gamble because he’s about the same age.

“Otherwise, he has got older drivers without a contract he can pick from and he’s in no hurry because none of these guys will make a move before that seat is full. Why would they? I would wait. I would do the same as Toto, I would wait!”