Lewis Hamilton replacement 'picked' as Toto Wolff accused of 'involving his ego'

Toto Wolff has been accused of picking Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes replacement based on “ego”. Hamilton will leave Mercedes' F1 team after 12 successful years to join rivals Ferrari in time for the 2025 season.

That bombshell revelation has given way to speculation over who Mercedes can possibly choose to fill the British racing legend’s shoes. One name which has been rumoured since Hamilton’s announcement in February is Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard will be replaced by Hamilton and, as it stands, does not have a seat for next season. Yet Mercedes team principal Wolff dispelled those rumours at the Canadian Grand Prix on the weekend, confirming that Sainz will not partner George Russell next year.

F1 legend Jacques Villeneuve, meanwhile, believes Andrea Kimi Antonelli is almost certain to race for Mercedes next year. And he stated that Wolff’s own ego was the driving factor behind the call to promote him.

Villeneuve told Sky Sports Germany: "Toto Wolff does not allow any other solution than Antonelli. It has been decided, this is Antonelli's team for the future. He has been preparing for this for years and Toto Wolff's ego also plays a huge role in the decision in favour of Antonelli. He wants to prove to the world that he was right to support the young Italian when he was only 12 years old."

It comes after reports emerged that Antonelli was involved in a private test of an old F1 car in early May at Silverstone, along with Russell and Mick Schumacher. And the teenager has even been endorsed by Hamilton himself as the seven-time world champion’s successor.

Hamilton candidly said: "Carlos is a great driver, so I think wherever he goes I think he would be a positive for any team. Honestly, I have no idea what Toto's plans are, but for me, taking on a youngster, if it was my role, I would probably take on Kimi."

Austrian Wolff confirmed as much when he strongly hinted that the Silver Arrows would pick junior driver Antonelli, 17 instead of Sainz. Wolff told Sky Germany: “We just want to concentrate on Kimi, that is our future, young drivers. We want to commit to that, to young drivers and that is what we’ve told Carlos.

“I think first of all, Carlos deserves a top seat. He’s done a fantastic job but for us, we’ve embarked on a route now to say you know what we want to reinvent ourselves a bit going forward and Kimi Antonelli definitely plays a part in that.

“We haven’t taken a decision yet for next year but we didn’t want to have Carlos wait as he needs to take a decision for himself. That’s just fair. He’s doing a super job.”

Teenage prodigy Antonelli currently competes in FIA Formula 2, having won multiple junior single-seater titles at the first time of asking since taking the step up from karting to racing cars in 2021. The Italian turns 18 in August - meaning he will be old enough to race at the Dutch Grand Prix this year.