Mercedes to change Lewis Hamilton replacement plan as “insurance policy” no longer in F1

Mercedes know they have Lewis Hamilton locked down for a few years but beyond that there is questions over who could replace him with a previous reserve driver no longer an option

Mercedes will need to source a new replacement for Lewis Hamilton, with the man tipped to step into his shoes no longer in Formula 1.

The seven-time world champion has committed his future to the Silver Arrows for a further two years, but beyond that his time in the sport remains unclear. Hamilton has been with the German outfit since 2013 and they’ve long enjoyed a settled driver line-up.

It has meant they haven’t been forced to constantly search the market for new drivers and they had Nyck De Vries on their books following his Formula 2 championship in 2019. The Dutchman ended up racing for Mercedes in Formula E, winning a title, and was often seen alongside Toto Wolff at races.

He was tipped for a potential race seat, but he was let go by AlphaTauri last season after failing to impress and has since returned to Formula E with Mahindra. That means he is no longer in place to replace Hamilton should the Brit decide to walk away from the sport.

Rally driver Tom Coronel previously told RacingNews365: “If Lewis Hamilton stops, Nyck de Vries will get the seat. Do you know why? As I’ve been saying for a year, Nyck is Toto Wolff’s insurance policy.

“Of course, he has already experienced it once with Rosberg. I don’t want to say he ‘uses’ Nyck, but that’s why he keeps him close to him. This is a boy who is doing everything he should have done. He has won all the championships he should have won.”

Coronel later added: “If you look at his track record and if you see what he’s still doing now, Nyck never lacked anything compared to the other drivers. That’s exactly what you get”

After Williams stepped down, George Russell has now been with the team for two years. Since joining the Silver Arrows, he is the only driver to win a race, and after making an impression, predictions have placed him as a future world champion.

Another man who was once signed by Mercedes, Esteban Ocon, has since left the team and is currently racing for Alpine elsewhere on the grid. Another reserve driver who has since moved on and is now working for Aston Martin is Stoffel Vandoorne, who was De Vries’ Formula E teammate.