F1 News

wolff on empty seat at mercedes

Wolff blames Hamilton: 'I'm in a rush because of Lewis'

3 March at 18:00

Results at Mercedes' team have been disappointing for several years. Despite this fact, for the rest, there seemed to be no problem from the team. Until the news came out that Lewis Hamilton will move to Ferrari from 2025. This creates unnecessary rush, says Toto Wolff.

That Lewis Hamilton will drive at Ferrari from 2025 is now well-known to everyone. It is just not yet known who will replace the seven-time world champion at Mercedes. This is not only a question for the entire F1 world, but also still for the team principal, Toto Wolff, himself.

Toto Wolff must look for replacement Lewis Hamilton

Wolff has already indicated a number of times that he does not want to rush into a decision on who should be in Mercedes' free seat. What is clear, however, is that there are a lot of drivers who want this seat only too badly. A lot of different names have been mentioned as possible successors to the 39-year-old Briton. During a media moment in Bahrain with GPblog and others, Wolff reiterates the fact that he is in no hurry, but he adds something remarkable. ''I'm in no hurry to decide on drivers. I've been rushed in a hurry by Lewis. So I'll just stand around and kind of take it easy and evaluate the market.''

One driver who is particularly much linked with the free seat at Mercedes is F2 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli. His performance so far has been disappointing in Formula 2. This is partly because his team's car is slower than usual this year. Wolff is also disappointed by this. ''Yeah, the championship-winning teams, 17 and 18, in Formula 2. That's not at all where they should be. I think you can look against the teammates. It's one of the comparisons I think we already have against the top drivers. But that's good. I think, like I always said, I'm almost guilty of talking him up too much. We'll see how the next few races pan out.''