Lewis Hamilton F1 replacement SNUBBED by Ferrari before Mercedes signing

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Hamilton replacement SNUBBED by Ferrari before Mercedes signing

Kimi Antonelli will race for Mercedes in 2025

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 4 September 2024 21:12

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Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, Kimi Antonelli, received a surprise Ferrari snub prior to signing for Mercedes according to his father.

Despite only being 18 years old, Antonelli has rocketed through junior racing series, into a full-time F1 seat with Mercedes for 2025.

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Antonelli has claimed several karting championships, alongside the Italian F4 and Formula Regional titles, and bypassed F3 to compete in F2 this year.

Whilst the performance of his Prema has masked his ability, Antonelli has still produced two wins at Silverstone and Hungary in a bid to impress Mercedes bosses.

Kimi Antonelli achieved his first F2 victory at Silverstone

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Antonelli has also impressed Mercedes bosses during a series of private tests, with Toto Wolff prepared to invest in the youngster's talent.

The Italian star has been part of Mercedes’ Junior Team since 2019, however some have questioned why Ferrari did not try and snatch him for their own junior programme.

Antonelli would have been the ideal star for the Scuderia to raise and prepare for the senior team, not only due to his talent but also his nationality.

In an interview with Italian outlet Fanpage his father, Marco Antonelli, revealed the reason why Ferrari snubbed the future star and whether there had been any contact since.

"Absolutely not since he joined the Mercedes Academy,” Antonelli Sr confirmed.

Kimi Antonelli has been part of the Mercedes family since 2019

“He was racing with the Ferrari brand when he made his karting debut and at the time there was Massimo Rivola as head of the Ferrari Driver Academy who wanted to include him in the program straight away.

“But then they told him he was too young to make an assessment. That was the only time there was contact with Ferrari, so we're talking about before I received that call from Mercedes."