Toto Wolff admitted he “didn’t want to miss out” on using Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, after having the possibility to sign Max Verstappen a decade ago.

Verstappen eventually joined the Red Bull development programme after having a clearer path to Formula 1, becoming the sport’s youngest ever driver in the process when he joined the grid in 2015, with Antonelli joining the grid aged just 18 in 2025.

How Max Verstappen experience influenced Kimi Antonelli Mercedes signing

Antonelli has been a part of Mercedes‘ junior ranks since 2018, rising through the categories at a rapid rate – even skipping Formula 3 altogether to take part in Formula 2 in 2024.

When it was announced Lewis Hamilton would be leaving for Ferrari in 2025, Mercedes team principal Wolff admitted previously about seeing it as the opportunity for Antonelli to impress, despite his young age.

The teenager finished sixth in the F2 standings in his rookie season in the category, taking two race victories along the way, and it was confirmed at the Italian Grand Prix that he would be the one to replace Hamilton for the 2025 season.

Having not had a seat available for Verstappen when he was making his way through the junior ranks, he ended up signing for the Red Bull stable, where he has raced to four consecutive World Championships.

Given how highly-regarded Antonelli is for his achievements in the feeder categories, Wolff made sure to use the talent available to him this time around.

“It was a curveball thrown at us, and it still feels weird that he’s going to wear Ferrari overalls and drive the red car,” Wolff said of Hamilton leaving Mercedes on the Armchair Experts with Dax Shepard podcast.

“It’s just a bit surreal. But we had this 17-year-old in the pipeline [Antonelli]. I didn’t want to miss out on him, like I did with Max [Verstappen] back in the day, [when] I didn’t have a car [for him], so that is all falling into place.

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“And I can kind of get where he’s coming from, because we weren’t successful. Our car was not quick enough, certainly he had a mega offer on the table, [and] every Formula 1 driver wants to drive a Ferrari.”

Wolff has spoken on multiple occasions about Mercedes and Hamilton going their separate ways, and admitted he is “absolutely” relieved that a day has not happened where he and the seven-time World Champion did not have to have a conversation about ending their professional relationship.

“I couldn’t make the decision from a personal standpoint – we owe him so much,” Wolff explained.

“And I didn’t want to do the decision, as Mercedes, letting the greatest champion ever go.

“Maybe he felt that also, that’s part of it, and he knew that Antonelli was in the pipeline. It was something that I almost had in the back of my mind, that that would happen.”

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