Hamilton Mercedes replacement doubts revealed during champion's 'USELESS' rant

A Formula 1 champion has raised doubts over Kimi Antonelli’s future at Mercedes whilst also blasting a junior series for their ‘useless’ driver development.

The Italian youngster will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next season, when the seven-time champion will depart to Ferrari.

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Antonelli's talent saw him fast-tracked to Formula 2 this year, and after completing a series of private tests for Mercedes, the team felt confident in his promotion.

However, during his FP1 debut at the Italian GP, Antonelli crashed early in the session, a mistake Toto Wolff has asked him to learn from whilst remaining supportive of the young driver.

Will Kimi Antonelli succeed at Mercedes?

Following a discussion regarding Antonelli’s future at Mercedes on Sky Sports, 1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve raised doubts over whether he will continue to be nurtured in this way when he moves to Mercedes.

"The teams don't have any duty at all this is not school it's not a school yard this is the top level, the pinnacle of racing," Villeneuve said.

"The driver just has to be tough whatever his age. He [Antonelli] is super fast, super talented, is that enough for F1?

"There's a mental process that you cannot prepare in other categories."

The nature of Antonelli’s promotion also sparked conversation over the value of feeder series' F2 and F3, none of which the 18-year-old has won.

When asked where this approach to hiring youngsters left the series, Villeneuve labelled them as ‘useless’.

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"Useless, makes it completely useless because the team chooses an 11-year-old and decides 'this is our next one'," Villeneuve added.

"They prep him, they make sure that he’s quick enough to get to F1.

"He might not be the most talented one but he is the best prepared one and then you wonder why do the other categories exist?"

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