Verstappen was an option, but Antonelli and Russell are the future of Mercedes, claims Wolff
Having confirmed Andrea Kimi Antonelli as the replacement of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insisted that he only took five minutes to make the decision about the driver who will partner George Russell in 2025.
On the eve of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes have announced their 2025 driver line-up, with 18-year-old Italian Kimi Andrea Antonelli joining multiple Grand Prix-winner George behind the wheel for next season.
Kimi Antonelli will make the step up from F2 and graduate from the team’s junior programme, just like a George Russell, who made the jump up to F1 in 2019 after a superb two-year junior spell with the Brackley-based outfit.
Asked how much time he needed to find a replacement for Lewis Hamilton, Wolff answered: "I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he's going to Ferrari.
"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."
The Austrian believes that the driver pair of Antonelli and russell is the future of Mercedes, but he hopes the Italian can quickly "settle in."
"These two are the future," Wolff said. "They have been and will be Mercedes drivers, and therefore we have contracts with George and Kimi that go much longer, that are very complicated in terms of options, etc.
"This is a pressure cooker, but this is where we stand as a team today, we want to go with these two. The most important thing is to see how George and Kimi settle in and I see no reason at that stage not giving them the faith and the trust of going forward.
"What that means for the terms is something that we will discuss between ourselves, but we wouldn't have gone for the line-up with these two if we wouldn't believe 100% that they are the best choice for Mercedes."
Although Wolff had ealier confirmed that he had held talks with Max Verstappen, he claims now that he solely wants to focus on the current and the coming year, without thinking of 2026.
"So, what I appreciate also in dealing with them is just very straightforward, and I don't flirt outside," he added.
"I got nearly caught out by the Lewis situation, but I have not entertained any discussions with any drivers when giving it all from the team to make it a success.
"And this is why all of our focus in the team is on George and Kimi. There's no discussion, there are no second thoughts about what we're doing in 2026 because now it's about 2024 and 2025.
"And if flirting outside happens, then these guys will know it at the same time when we have those discussions, concluded Wolff.
