Toto Wolff has openly confirmed that young protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be joining George Russell at Mercedes for 2025.
Over the summer, it became apparent that Wolff had abandoned efforts to draw Max Verstappen from Red Bull for the 2025 season at least.
"That certainly does not close the door for a future transfer," Wolff stated to Kronen Zeitung newspaper at Zandvoort. "All year long I thought there was a window or an opportunity. It wasn't zero," he continued.
"Maybe it was 10 to 1, or 9 to 1. Still, I didn't want to give up, but then over the summer we came to the agreement that we shouldn't wait for something to happen before we commit to 2025."
This revelation is promising for F2 newcomer Antonelli, who turns 18 on Sunday, qualifying him for his F1 super license. This eligibility could even see him participating in his first official F1 weekend practice at Monza the following week.
"I hope everything goes well with George and Kimi next year," Wolff expressed. "We will soon officially confirm who will occupy the second seat, as George's teammate," he disclosed. "Both drivers will have our full support, 100 percent. That's why I don't want to talk about the driver lineup for 2026 just yet."
Wolff suggested that ongoing turmoil and a dip in performance at Red Bull might still lure Verstappen to Mercedes for 2026. "Before the summer, we still didn't have a driver for next year," the Austrian added. "And back then, Max was the obvious candidate or even the best possible candidate. Now, we have two drivers and the whole team is completely behind them."
At Zandvoort, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner expressed his hopes that Wolff would now cease his pursuit of the triple world champion Verstappen. "He's absolutely not available to Mercedes, and he never was," he declared. "I'm sure whatever they choose, they've thought it through.
"If they give Antonelli the seat, you've got to commend them for taking that risk with a young talent."
