Lewis Hamilton out, Oscar Piastri's big mistake and a sliding doors F1 moment

Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris sit next to each other at the Australian Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Lewis Hamilton out, Oscar Piastri's big mistake and a sliding doors F1 moment

In the end Antonelli, and not Piastri, replaced Hamilton

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 19 March 2026 21:55

Mercedes should have replaced Lewis Hamilton with McLaren star Oscar Piastri rather than Kimi Antonelli, according to one well-known F1 pundit.

Hamilton's decision to leave Mercedes after 12 highly-successful seasons left the F1 world in shock at the beginning of 2024, but it also gave Mercedes a full year to work out who to replace the seven-time world champion with.

Mercedes were linked with acquiring the services of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, but eventually opted to give the seat to F2 racer Antonelli, who was just 17 when the move was announced.

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Last weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, Antonelli claimed his maiden career grand prix victory, and he appears likely to be in a world championship battle with team-mate George Russell, as Mercedes look set to dominate the sport once more.

However, F1 journalist Peter Windsor has suggested that it should be Piastri in that car, rather than Antonelli.

He's taken things back to Piastri's decision to choose McLaren over Alpine ahead of the 2023 season, and has suggested that he would currently be in the Mercedes seat alongside Russell had he have chosen the Alpine route.

"What would have happened then, I think, is that Oscar would have blown Ocon away at Renault [Alpine], and he would still be the man at the moment having won F2, F3 championships," Windsor told the Cameron CC YouTube channel.

"Everybody would have been talking about Oscar Piastri, and probably with Toto [Wolff] getting, you know, cold feet over Lewis [Hamilton], he would have put Oscar in the other Mercedes. That's what I always said. And if he'd waited one year, he would have ended up at Mercedes. He would have got the Antonelli drive, and he'd be in Antonelli's car right now."

Piastri regretting decision?

While the decision to choose McLaren over Alpine was clearly the right one in the short term, Windsor's comments hint that the long-term move might have been to prove himself as the number one driver at a smaller team.

Despite having claimed nine grand prix victories with McLaren, Piastri has finished behind his team-mate Lando Norris in all three of the seasons that they have spent together as team-mates.

The young Australian missed out on the world championship last year, and now appears to be facing a period of midfield misery, with McLaren having had a poor start to the 2026 regulations overhaul.

Piastri may already be assessing other options across the F1 grid for future seasons, as he seeks to get out from behind Norris' shadow.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes McLaren Oscar Piastri Kimi Antonelli