Lewis Hamilton has gone against Nico Rosberg's advise to Toto Wolff in calling for Mercedes to give Kimi Andrea Antonelli a chance in his seat from next year.
Mercedes are on the hunt for Hamilton's replacement heading into 2025 after the seven-time world champion agreed a deal to join Ferrari.
Wolff has made no secret of his desire to steal Max Verstappen from Red Bull while Carlos Sainz has also been touted as an option.
Mercedes junior Antonelli has been tipped for a bright future in the sport and is currently competing in his debut F2 season.
Lewis Hamilton has tipped Kimi Andrea Antonelli to replace him
REUTERS
At just 17 years of age, choosing Antonelli would be a brave choice but one Hamilton would like to see Mercedes make.
"Honestly, I have no idea what Toto's plans are, but I think for me, taking on the youngster," he said.
"If it were my job, my role, I would take on Kimi [Andrea Antonelli]."
His comments go against what Rosberg said earlier this week, who felt driving for Mercedes would be too big of a challenge for the teenager.
"Antonelli is definitely a superstar of the future but unfortunately timing-wise it's really too early for him, and especially too early for Toto to be able to make a decision on Antonelli," Rosberg said.
"He needs to wait until somewhat later in the year as we see how Antonelli does in F2 also, because he does need a really strong season in F2 to make it a possibility for him to go straight to Mercedes.
"Otherwise, if anything, some time at Williams or a team like that would make sense."
There had been rumours that Williams were looking at Antonelli as a possible replacement for Sargeant.
Kimi Andrea Antonelli is currently racing in his debut F2 season
PA
The American has struggled to improve in his sophomore year in F1 and is running out of time to convince Williams to give him a new deal.
But Williams boss James Vowles denied speculation that Antonelli was going to take Sargeant's seat in time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“There was a rumour going around that he’ll be in the car from Imola – he won’t be in the car for Imola," Vowles said.
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Nico Rosberg isn't sure Kimi Andrea Antonelli would be the right pick
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"What we’re doing at the moment is evaluating drivers for ‘26 and ‘25, and what we really want is the right driver pairing for those two years, as when you go through regulation changes [as the sport will do in 2026] you don’t want to be changing drivers, so you’re looking for the right pairing for that period of time.
"There's no doubt that he's got huge skill to him, but he was in a F4 car 20 months ago, that's where he is, it's a very different proposition to most. We've been talking to four or five drivers at the moment for that period of time.
"I'm quite happy to sit back a little bit and wait, more so than that, I have a duty and responsibility to make this car faster first, because Alex is a championship level driver, we've got to provide the right car for him to be behind him and we haven't yet, and then that typically unlocks other possibilities in the future."
