Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff will be on cloud nine heading into Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
He will know that George Russell is a good launch away from leading the race in Montreal and potentially ending the team’s winning drought.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has been speaking about the future of the team.
Russell is signed up for next year already while Lewis Hamilton will be heading to Ferrari at the end of the season.
The second Mercedes seat is still available for next season but it appears that there’s only one candidate to join Russell in 2025.
Villeneuve believes that Toto Wolff has made a decision based on his ‘ego’ to bring Kimi Antonelli into the team next year.
The 17-year-old is testing behind the scenes for Mercedes but can’t take part in an FP1 session until August.
While suggestions that he could replace Logan Sargeant before the end of the season have slowed down, it does seem as though the teenager is destined to be on the F1 grid next year.
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Jacques Villeneuve gives his verdict on Kimi Antonelli potentially racing for Mercedes
Mercedes may be the fourth-fastest team on the grid this season but the Canadian Grand Prix has started brilliantly.
Russell will start the race from pole position after setting an identical time to Max Verstappen.
Hamilton may be disappointed that he’s only starting on the fourth row of the grid but changeable conditions are expected which could aim the seven-time world champion.
Mercedes are already making preparations for next season and while no announcement has been made on who will join George Russell in the team, it’s expected to be Kimi Antonelli.
The young Italian is yet to finish on the podium in his maiden Formula 2 season but has fared well against more experienced teammate Oliver Bearman.
While some aspects of his testing performances have been emphasized, there are extremely high hopes for Antonelli within the Mercedes team.
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Jacques Villeneuve thinks Mercedes could be Kimi Antonelli’s team
Talking about their potential 2025 line-up, Villeneuve said: “Mercedes is not really an open door. It’s [Kimi] Antonelli’s team. That’s the future.
“He’s been prepped for it. Toto will not have it any other way. There’s ego in there. He will prove to the world that he was right, that when Antonelli was 12, he knew that he was a future champion.”
Antonelli has reportedly convinced Mercedes board members that he should be their next driver.
With so few rookies breaking into Formula 1 in recent years, Antonelli earning a seat at a potentially race-winning team in 2025 is a huge step up.
In a perfect world, Wolff would be keeping hold of Hamilton next year and handing Antonelli his first F1 opportunity at another team such as Williams.
He doesn’t have that luxury and instead has to back his young driver immediately to hit the ground running alongside Russell.
The post ‘That’s the future’: Jacques Villeneuve now believes Toto Wolff has made an ego-based decision for 2025 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.