Brundle makes surprise prediction for who will replace Hamilton at Mercedes

Martin Brundle has tipped a fascinating young driver to be in contention for a drive with Mercedes in 2025.

Following the departure of stud driver Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari at the end of the season, the Silver Arrows need to find a canny operator to partner George Russell.

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Next year’s driver market is extremely competitive, with as many as 13 seats up for grabs and many more free agent drivers than can fill those holes.

All sorts of names have been thrown around the Mercedes rumour mill, including Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon – but there’s another name in the mix for the seat.

While the signing of Max Verstappen failed back before Red Bull snapped him as a junior driver in 2014, the team didn’t want to let the same thing happen with another talent that arose just five years ago.

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Who is Brundle's pick for a 2025 Mercedes drive?

Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle has shared his thoughts on who the team may allocate the seat to before the end of the year.

"I think Mercedes, if [Andrea Kimi] Antonelli's ready, they'll try and put Antonelli in Lewis Hamilton's seat,” he told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“If Fernando Alonso stays at Aston Martin, Laurence Stroll's hardly going to biff his son out of there, unless he doesn't want to do it anymore, but he looks like he does.”

Antonelli has a whole year of F2 ahead of him with the experienced Prema team, meaning that he has as a lot of development to undergo before he can be considered an option.

If he starts picking up race victories and challenging for the championship, it may be time to consider him as a serious candidate for a drive with the Silver Arrows.

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