Five stars who could replace Hamilton at Mercedes, including teenage prodigy
LEWIS HAMILTON's move to Ferrari will be confirmed within hours, leaving Mercedes with a seat open for 2025.
The seven-time world champion will end his eleven-year spell with Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season.
He will join Charles Leclerc at Ferrari next season, while Carlos Sainz is set to leave the Italian team.
Mercedes must now scout another driver to replace the F1 legend, with several names already among the candidates.
SunSport looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell at the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri
McLaren has tied Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him beyond Mercedes' reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Pisatri, 22.
The Australian has an excellent track record, winning the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines at Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren.
He impressed in his debut season last year and has the potential to become world champion.
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Daniel Ricciardo
The veteran driver's future remains in doubt as he bides his time with Red Bull's B-team.
Ricciardo would have little trouble and provide some stability, but he would be 35 by then.
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It seems unlikely that they would select him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could find himself in the reckoning.
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Kimi Antonelli
You may not have heard of the Italian, but it's mustard. Still just 17 years old, he has won in all junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes Young Driver program since 2019.
This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he is tipped to shine.
A good debut season in F2 could see Mercedes take a risk on him before 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
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Mick Schumacher
Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoke highly of him that you would at least expect him to be considered.
He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and would therefore get up to speed. But speed is also the problem.
He was shocking at Haas and if he was really that good he would still be in F1.
6
Alex Albon
A wiser choice would be London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very fast.
He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance, fast-paced partnership, similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, that went to back-to-back titles.
It would take little convincing to sign Albon from Williams and Mercedes wouldn't have to pay him half of the £50 million they handed out to Hamilton.
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