Formula 1 News: Wolff suggests Antonelli unlikely to be dropped

(GMM) Toto Wolff has all but ruled out dropping rookie Kimi Antonelli (pictured) from the Mercedes driver lineup.

The Italian media’s Formula 1 coverage at present centers around two narratives – the struggles at Ferrari, and the promising future of Italian 18-year-old Antonelli.

The youngster, however, races for Mercedes, but the Italian press is still celebrating the fact that he has successfully raced to his graduation from high school.

“The Mercedes driver completed the written tests with his classmates, but brought forward the oral exam in order to be able to be on the track in Austria,” reported La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Some are predicting a future in red for Antonelli, but his career was actually championed by Mercedes’ Wolff, who has known the family for years.

However, the potential arrival of Max Verstappen next year could spell trouble for Antonelli. “If Wolff takes Verstappen,” an unnamed Red Bull insider told Auto Motor und Sport, “he’ll be changing two drivers.

“Verstappen would ruin Antonelli.”

But Wolff has now told Bloomberg that dropping Antonelli is basically out of the question, despite the fact that he is still adapting to modern F1.

“Managing the tires has become really difficult,” said the Austrian. “It’s not enough to be fast on a single lap or in the race. It’s important to exploit the tires without sliding and without overheating them.

“Look at Oscar Piastri,” Wolff added. “It took him a year and a half to get to the level of Lando Norris and in 2025, for the first time, he (Piastri) is ahead.

He continued: “Antonelli will probably need a three-year program. That’s how long a young driver needs to challenge a more experienced and faster teammate.

“But we would never have entrusted the seat to a driver who we don’t consider a potential world champion.”