Lewis Hamilton is preparing for his final nine races as a Mercedes driver and team principal Toto Wolff is yet to confirm who’ll succeed the seven-time Formula 1 world champion.
Ex-Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button has warned Mercedes boss Toto Wolff that replacing Lewis Hamilton with 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli could destroy the wonderkid’s career.
Antonelli, who’ll turn 18 on Sunday, is the firm favourite to succeed seven-time world champion Hamilton, with his move to Ferrari next year edging closer. Mercedes are expected to announce who’ll next partner George Russell from 2025 onwards in the coming weeks, as F1 returns from its summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend with the Silver Arrows in race-winning form.
But Button has warned team principal Wolff that the pressure of succeeding Hamilton could be too much for Antonelli, despite the Italian being labelled the next Max Verstappen. Referencing Ferrari-backed Oliver Bearman’s move to Haas for next season, Button warned: “The teams, I think they need to really think about what they’re doing to a driver in his career at that age.
“If he blossoms great, but with the pressures that this sport brings, it can destroy a driver’s career as well. So there’s a real balance there and teams need to be careful with it.”
Button was only 20 when he competed in F1 for the first time and the Frome-born star faced criticism that he was too young. However, Button came close to earning points on his debut, as he was in sixth place – the final points-scoring position back then – before being forced to retire with 11 laps of the 2000 Australian Grand Prix remaining.
“I remember, even Martin Brundle said, ‘It’s too young for him’,” Button recalled via RacingNews365. “But it was right to say that I was very young I had hardly any testing because the engines kept blowing up. So I didn’t have enough mileage to get a super licence but they gave me it. I went and crashed in Melbourne in practice, and it was like ‘See, we told you!’.
“And then I was running in sixth in the race before the engine blew up. So I could have scored points in my first F1 race.” Button added: “I don’t think it was too early, I think you have to take every opportunity when it comes to you, especially for youngsters at 17, 18 or 19. You can’t say no!”
Wolff has been tight-lipped on Antonelli’s chances of driving for Mercedes in 2025, although in June he did admit that his team were monitoring the teenager’s performances in F2.
“We’re leaving the second seat open for the moment, we don’t want to take a decision,” Wolff explained. “He’s doing a great job in testing with us in F1, he’s good in F2 – the team mate (Bearman) is the benchmark. So yeah, we’re observing.”
