Nico Rosberg not in favor of Mercedes promoting 'future superstar' as Lewis Hamilton's replacement

Former F1 driver Nico Rosberg opined against promoting Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli to F1 to replace Lewis Hamilton.

Before the 2024 F1 season began, Hamilton announced that he would be joining Ferrari in 2025. After 12 years and multiple drivers' and constructors championships, Hamilton would part ways with Mercedes after 2024. This triggered the Silver Arrows to find his replacement within a year.

Several reports emerged debating as to who could fill Lewis Hamilton's massive shoes at Mercedes. Apart from current F1 drivers like Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, and even Max Verstappen, the team's junior Kimi Antonelli's name was also thrown in the mix. Toto Wolff also mentioned Antonelli's name while talking about Hamilton's replacement, which sparked even more speculation.

However, the former Mercedes world champion was not sold on the idea of Antonelli joining F1. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Nico Rosberg felt that Antonelli still needs time before he is ready for the top single-seater series. He added that Toto Wolff should wait and observe the youngster's performance and talent in F2 first.

“Well, Antonelli is definitely a superstar of the future. But unfortunately, timing-wise it’s really too early for him, and especially too early for Toto to be able to make a decision on Antonelli,” Rosberg said (via PlanetF1).

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F1 pundit on Toto Wolff's "consistently inconsistent" hints about Kimi Antonelli potentially replacing Lewis Hamilton

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell Malm recently shared how inconsistent Toto Wolff's statements were about Kimi Antonelli's future in F1 and whether he could replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

Speaking on The Race F1 Podcast, Scott stated that Wolff was inconsistent in his statements regarding Antonelli's future. He added that the Mercedes team boss wanted to keep his statements in check and avoid applying pressure on the youngster.

"I would describe Wolff's messaging around Kimi Antonelli as consistently inconsistent because right from the very start, he's wanted to say the right things and wanted to avoid rushing things and putting pressure on Antonelli," Scott Mitchell-Malm said.

The F1 pundit also claimed that there was a strong chance of Mercedes promoting Antonelli directly to F1 with them.

"Off the record, there have been clear indications that actually Antonelli is the first choice if it all comes together," he added.

As of now, Kimi Antonelli is participating in the F2 championship with Prema Racing, alongside Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman.