Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Who Are the Starting Drivers for Mercedes in the 2025 F1 Season? Mercedes AMG Petronas 2025 Starting Drivers Line-Up

Mercedes Formula 1 team have made a young gamble in the 2025 season. as they move forward with the loss of their World Champion.

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Mercedes will start the 2025 Formula 1 season with a positive momentum carried over from the 2024 season. They suffered a huge fiasco due to the 2022 Formula 1 regulations and were unable to compete for wins and podiums anymore. Suddenly, the 2021 Constructor champions were relegated to the midfield and their drivers were unsatisfied with the performance of the cars. Mercedes managed to claim multiple victories with both of their drives in the 2024 season.

However, even before the start of the 2024 season, the Silver Arrows faced a major loss to their driver lineup. Lewis Hamilton, the star driver and multiple championship winner, left Mercedes in favor of Scuderia Ferrari for the 2025 season. However, team boss Toto Wolff had already procured a replacement for Hamilton. The 2025 driver lineup for Mercedes will be one of the youngest on the grid.

According to Wolff, the decisions he made for the driver pairings were based on the fact that he regretted the decision of losing Max Verstappen to Red Bull racing during the rookie days of the Dutchman.

Mercedes Driver Lineup 2025

George Russell (#63) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (#12) are going to start the 2025 season for the Mercedes Formula 1 team. Russell is a fairly new driver who joined Mercedes in 2022 after a long stint with Williams. He will be the lead driver of the championship for the Brackley outfit based on his experience and time with his former partner, Hamilton. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a rookie driver who will be joining the grid as the third youngest driver in the history of Formula 1.

Dreams don’t push themselves over the finish line… We all do 💪 pic.twitter.com/GACauVmhXB
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 10, 2025

Mercedes is going to want to capitalise on Antonelli’s talent in his junior series based on the responses from Toto Wolff. The Italian driver was able to procure his Super License after Formula 1 made an exception in the rules for the 2025 season. Hamilton’s loss may prove to be a huge blow to Mercedes, especially because of the synergy he had with the team.

However, if the Silver Arrows want to compete as the frontrunners of the grid. They will have to balance out their drivers and maximise the performance of the car based on their input. Toto Wolff seems to be confident that his gamble with Antonelli might help him create a pairing similar to Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

Additionally, Mercedes is going to benefit from the fact that Valtteri Bottas has decided to rejoin the team as a reserve driver. Thus, the Silver Arrows will have a multiple race winning driver and dependable team player in tight situations.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Formula 1 Driver Lineups

George Russell

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes Formula 1 Team

Valtteri Bottas

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.