Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has appeared to 'leak' the name of the driver who will replace Lewis Hamilton next season ahead of an official announcement.
In February, it was announced that Hamilton will leave the Silver Arrows after 11 years with the team to join Ferrari at the beginning of 2025.
Mercedes have been searching for his replacement throughout the current season, with surprise links to Red Bull's Max Verstappen emerging early on in that search.
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The three-time world champion last year signed a long-term contract with Red Bull until 2028, and team principal Christian Horner has said that Verstappen was 'never' going to leave the team.
He told Sky Sports F1: "We know what our agreement is with Max, Max knows what his agreement is with us.
"He's certainly not available to Mercedes [for 2025], he never was."
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But Wolff has now disclosed that Mercedes did in fact hold talks with Verstappen and his entourage over a move to the team for 2025.
However, the German has confirmed that, despite those talks, the reigning champion will not be leaving Red Bull.
He has instead admitted that Mercedes are focusing their full attention on next year's drivers - and while he didn't explicitly confirm Hamilton's replacement, said that Mercedes are working towards junior driver Kimi Antonelli being in the seat.
He told reporters at the Dutch Grand Prix (via Autosport): "We've taken the decision for drivers for next year. Soon, we will confirm who is in the second seat.
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"What I also said is that the two drivers that are in the car have our full support, 100 per cent. And therefore I'm entering the season in 2025 with two drivers that we will be giving all the opportunity to perform.
"That's why I don't want to talk about the 2026 driver lineup at that stage because I want to make it work with George and Kimi."
It is expected that Mercedes will officially announce their driver lineup at the next Grand Prix in Monza - where Antonelli will drive in first practice in place of Hamilton.
The Italian, who will be 18 years of age when the 2025 season begins, has been part of Mercedes' academy ranks since 2019 and has dominated junior formulae.
His success has been such that the Italian bypassed Formula 3 for this season, and was signed up to Formula 2 with Prema Racing instead.
Antonelli has outperformed his more experienced team-mate Oliver Bearman in F2, and has already picked up two race wins this season.
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He produced a masterful drive to win a wet Silverstone sprint race - reminiscent of Hamilton's own drive to win the British Grand Prix 16 years ago.
Speaking to Autosport earlier this month, Antonelli said he was not nervous about the prospect of potentially entering F1 at such a young age.
He explained: "I am quite calm. If the opportunity presented itself to me, I would take it with eagerness and try to make the most of it.
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"Recently there has been some pressure on me with all the rumours about next year, but I have always tried to enjoy it. I'm enjoying the opportunities I have."
A move to F1 for Antonelli would resemble Hamilton's arrival in the sport back in 2007, when McLaren signed him as a rookie before promptly going on to challenge for both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.
Whether Mercedes will be at the front of the pack next season remains to be seen, but the Silver Arrows have won three of the last four races.
After a challenging two seasons in 2022 and 2023, they are now back at the front of the field with Hamilton and Russell - and will hope they can stay that way for next season.
Topics: F1, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen
Ryan Smart