“We both know that’s not true Toto”: Fans react to Mercedes boss claiming he decided to sign Kimi Antonelli 5 mins after Lewis Hamilton’s exit

Toto Wolff claims he decided to sign Kimi Antonelli five minutes after Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari announcement (Image via Getty || X/@UFCFanatic99)

F1 fans reacted to Toto Wolff’s claim that he decided to sign Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli five minutes after Lewis Hamilton informed him of his decision to move to Ferrari in 2025. Many followers found Wolff’s statement hard to believe, especially since the Austrian openly admitted that he wanted defending world champion Max Verstappen as well.

When Lewis Hamilton announced that he would leave Mercedes and join Ferrari in 2025, the Silver Arrows were forced to start looking for the seven-time world champion’s replacement. As months went by, several rumors emerged that the team was looking towards their junior driver, Kimi Antonelli, along with existing F1 drivers like Carlos Sainz, and even Max Verstappen.

Fast forward to August 31, 2024, Mercedes announced that they hired Kimi Antonelli for the 2025 season, alongside George Russell.

Speaking to the media with Antonelli, he claimed that he made up his mind to sign the youngster a few minutes after Hamilton announced that he was leaving the team. He admitted that the team kept Max Verstappen as a possible option, especially when Red Bull’s internal integrity was shaken after Christian Horner’s investigation. However, he said that he always wanted the Kimi Antonelli-George Russell lineup for the future.

“I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he’s going to Ferrari,” Wolff said.

“Obviously, we were discussing other options, and also kept the Max idea. We didn’t discount it completely with looking at what happened at Red Bull, but instinctively, that is the line-up with these two that I always wanted. Bearing in mind the fast-tracking that we did with Kimi and everything related there too, but that was immediately what I wanted to do,” he added.

Many fans were not on board with Toto Wolff’s claim of deciding to sign Kimi Antonelli early on. This was particularly because of how he publicly wooed Max Verstappen to join Mercedes for several months.

Some called out Toto Wolff and said it could not be true, while others questioned why he was chasing Verstappen if he wanted Antonelli the whole time.

“We both know that’s not true Toto,”

“Then wtff is he doing with getting maxxxxxx???,” another added.

“Meanwhile Toto to Max since Lewis announcement:” a follower hilariously posted.

“Which is why you have been twerking for Max all season,” another humorously questioned.

As of now, Kimi Antonelli will race for Mercedes in 2025. However, there has been no information from the team about their 2026 driver lineup.

Toto Wolff explains the decision to stick with Mercedes proteges for their future lineup after signing Kimi Antonelli

After signing Kimi Antonelli for 2025, Toto Wolff recently explained why he decided to stick with Mercedes-bred drivers rather than searching for other talented racers from teams.

Speaking to F1.com in an exclusive, he explained that choosing Lewis Hamilton’s replacement was not an easy task, since there were many great options to choose from. He mentioned Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who could have arrived in Mercedes.

“It was not easy because there were great pilots that we were looking at – and ones who deserved to be in Mercedes. Carlos is a good example and he would have been quick, he would have been a great contributor to championships – also next year,” Wolff said.

Wolff then emphasized Mercedes’ junior program being important to the team, and how Antonelli and Russell could shape a bright future for them.

“But in a way, our junior driver programme is important to us and I think the long-term future is between Kimi and George, who have both been with us from the very early ages onwards,” he added.

The young Italian driver was announced by Mercedes after his debut run in the Italian GP’s first practice session, where he unfortunately crashed out after clocking some quick laps around Monza.