Toto Wolff has a big task on his hands to replace Lewis Hamilton. (Image: Getty)
Toto Wolff is searching for a driver to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has taken aim at Lewis Hamilton for putting him in under pressure to find a new driver for 2025. In February Hamilton, who has won six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows, shocked F1 by announcing he would be joining Ferrari at the end of the current season.
Wolff himself later admitted the development had caught him off guard, with the 38-year-old opting to leave a year before his deal with Mercedes expires. And with no replacement lined-up, the Austrian team principal is now keeping a close eye on driver developments with a number of candidates set to be in the running to join.
However, while out in Bahrain for the opening Grand Prix weekend of the season, he said he would not be panicked into a decision. “I’m in no hurry to decide on driver,” he said. “I’ve been rushed in a hurry by Lewis. So I’ll just stand around and kind of take it easy and evaluate the market.”
But the performance of his team in the Middle East will have again emphasised the necessity for Wolff to get his recruitment right. Again, Mercedes were a long way off the pace set by frontrunners Red Bull, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton floundering in fifth and seventh respectively.
Indeed, the prospect of a glorious conclusion for the British icon at the team he joined back in 2013 already appears remote. And that’s despite insisting he was in the best possible shape after being pressed on his ongoing struggles.
“I personally feel great, physically I feel great so winter training has worked,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix. “We probably feel a bit of disappointment within the team, I’m not sure about everyone else.
“I was definitely hoping that we would be better this weekend then we were, but it was a tough race, it was very close with everybody and degradation is high with the car. There is plenty of areas we can improve.”
One youngster touted to fill Hamilton’s sizeable shoes has been Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with the 17-year-old currently signed to Mercedes’ junior development programme. But his display in the opening Formula 2 race of the season was underwhelming, finishing 10th following a number of alterations to his PREMA car, with Wolff admitting he has previously been “guilty of talking him up too much.”
Carlos Sainz Jnr will also be on the market, with Hamilton’s move forcing the Spaniard out of the Scuderia. Sergio Perez may also be departing Red Bull, amid his struggles to keep up the pace with Max Verstappen.
