Finding a driver to replace Lewis Hamilton, a 7-time champion, is by no means an easy task. Though Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff is in talks with Carlos Sainz and dreams of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull for them, the Austrian has his eyes firmly set on F2 prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli. But if Wolff expects the 17-year-old to repeat what Verstappen did at that age, a big gamble is what fans would term it. And the same concern has been raised by renowned Italian F1 Journalist, Leo Turrini.

In 2014, Toto Wolff passed up the opportunity to sign a 17-year-old Max Verstappen. Red Bull, in their hearts, thanked him and signed the Dutchman. The rest is history. To avoid repeating that failure, Toto Wolff is dead-set on signing Antonelli in 2026, after maybe 1 year at Williams. In preparation, the Italian prodigy has already tested Mercedes’ W12 in Imola for over 2 days and 500+ kilometers.

Though he emphasized that the learning was amazing, the demands of constant F1 racing are very high to be encapsulated in a 2-day testing environment. Consequently, Leo Turrini has doubted Toto Wolff’s potential gamble. “Kimi immediately in F1, they already say from Imola, would be an exciting boomerang,” Turrini wrote in his blog. “Let me explain. I’m rooting for my fellow countryman, reliable people have been telling me wonderful things about him for years. I hope he is the heir of Ciccio Ascari, the last Italian F1 world champion.”

Despite his patriotic side wanting Antonelli to make Italy proud, he remains doubtful about Wolff’s decision. “The boy’s F3 has already been blown up,” he added. “Is it worth projecting it straight away onto the Williams, not exactly a great car? Isn’t there a risk of burning it? I hope Toto Wolff knows what he’s doing.”

Antonelli has been hailed as the “best driver in an F3 car since Max Verstappen.” But being compared to the most dominant F1 champion when he hasn’t even stepped into the category is highly pressurizing. In case it happens anyway, F1 Expert Peter Windsor believes that Antonelli will replace the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli can replace Logan Sargeant

Williams has been a feeder team to Mercedes in the recent past. George Russell is a prominent example of why this system works for the Silver Arrows. Similarly, Toto Wolff will probably place Antonelli in Sargeant’s seat before a Mercedes call-up. Because Antonelli turns 18 right before the Italian Grand Prix, Peter Windsor believes that would be Wolff’s ideal window.

“I think he [Kimi Antonelli] could do [replace Sargeant], I mean that’s [Williams] the obvious place to try him out and run him,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel. “It’s [Monza] not that demanding a circuit and obviously Mercedes are a supplier of engines to Williams so they have leverage there.”

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Windsor also elaborated on how Sargeant might already be feeling out of place after Williams’ ruling him out of Australia. “And Logan, I’m sure, doesn’t feel very good about Williams now after what happened in Australia and I presume Mercedes would pay all the bills anyway,” he added. “So I don’t think it’s a big stretch of the imagination to see that happening and I think they could even race him in [Mercedes] next year.

Antonelli has proven his worth to Mercedes’ top man Toto Wolff. But will he be able to live up to the hype once he debuts? Let us know in the comments below.