Mercedes Toto Wolff Said It Took Him Minutes To Select Lewis Hamilton Replacement Kimi Antonelli

The most sought-after open seat in Formula 1 has been filled.

After months of speculation about who could wind up behind in the cockpit at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli is officially going to partner with George Russell in 2025.

However, while it took more than six months since Lewis Hamilton announced his stunning move to Ferrari to announce Antonelli as the seven-time champ's successor, the Silver Arrows' team principal Toto Wolff said on Saturday after the news was announced at the Italian Grand Prix that he had made up his mind much sooner than that.

"I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me he was going to Ferrari," Wolff said, per RACER.com. 

To quote late, diminutive child actor Gary Coleman, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Toto?"

You mean to tell me that we sat around for months waiting for an official announcement while you knew you'd be going with 18-year-old prodigy Kimi Antonelli this entire time?!

Well, not exactly, there was more to it than that.

"Obviously we were discussing with other options, and obviously the Max (Verstappen) idea couldn’t be discounted completely looking at what happened at Red Bull, but instinctively, that is the lineup that I always wanted. Bearing in mind the fast-tracking that we did with Kimi and everything that we did there too, but it was immediately what I wanted to do."

In the end, it was pretty clear that Antonelli was always going to be the guy. As Wolff mentioned, he was fast-tracked through junior formulas for a reason, but some unexpected variables popped up.

Wolff mentioned the big one, and that had to do with rumors that Max Verstappen might be looking for a way out of Red Bull.

That didn't pan out, so Mercedes will be taking a bold step with Antonelli, who they rate very highly.

The Italian-born driver made his F1 weekend debut on Friday at Monza in Free Practice 3, however, he crashed out at the Parabolica after just five laps of running.