Fernando Alonso signing his new contract at Aston Martin has also triggered dominos for Mercedes and Sauber as Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz vie for seats in F1.
The 2025 Formula 1 grid continued to take shape on Thursday as Alonso signed up to stay at Aston Martin until at least 2026. It will keep the 42-year-old at the Silverstone squad until he turns 45. It also takes one of Mercedes’ options to replace Lewis Hamilton off the F1 market.
Mercedes had been considering Alonso for their soon-to-be vacant drive with the Spaniard’s previous contract expiring after the 2024 season. Hamilton will quit the Silver Arrows at the end of this season having signed a multi-year contract to replace Sainz at Ferrari from 2025.
Fernando Alonso’s new Aston Martin contract tempts Mercedes to promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer, Andrew Benson, reported as ‘a fact’ that Alonso was ‘on the list’ at Mercedes to replace Hamilton. Team principal Toto Wolff was also happy for the two-two Formula 1 champion to join the Brackley natives as George Russell’s teammate next season.
READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2
But Alonso has instead signed a new contract at Aston Martin for at least two more seasons. So, ESPN journalist Nate Saunders now reports that Mercedes will prioritise promoting their junior Antonelli to replace Hamilton, in a move which likely leaves Sainz without a top drive.
Aston Martin locking Alonso up through at least 2026 leaves Mercedes and, potentially, Red Bull as the only front-running Formula 1 squads with vacancies for 2025. Sergio Perez is also out of contract at Red Bull beyond 2024. But the Mexican could yet retain his seat next year.
Mercedes are also now leaning toward promoting Antonelli to Formula 1 after just one year in Formula 2. The 17-year-old is enjoying his rookie season in the premier feeder series with Prema this year. So, Ferrari ace Sainz’s most likely landing spot for 2025 is a move to Sauber.
Sauber are now Carlos Sainz’s most likely landing spot on the 2025 Formula 1 grid
Sauber are an option for Sainz as the Swiss squad will turn into Audi’s works entry in 2026. A move to Hinwil also seems the most probable for the 29-year-old with Mercedes prioritising promoting Antonelli to replace Hamilton. The Italian is also set for his debut run in an F1 car.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
Mercedes have scheduled a two-day test at the Red Bull Ring from April 16 where Antonelli will get behind the wheel of their 2021 car, the W12. It is the Italian’s first of several tests in a modern Formula 1 car the Silver Arrows have planned for their junior driver this year, as well.
Antonelli, who Wolff has called ‘immense’, has been a part of Mercedes’ driver development programme since he was 11. The Silver Arrows signed the Bologna native up whilst he raced go-karts. Mercedes have also seen Antonelli enjoy a lavish junior single-seater career since.
Prema first ran Antonelli as he made the move to single-seaters in 2021 before taking him to the Italian and German F4 titles in 2022. He even secured the Formula Regional Europe and Middle East double in 2023 with Prema before moving to Formula 2 with the team this year.
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