Guenther Steiner tips a shock F1 driver as Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes replacement

Mercedes should look at Nico Hulkenberg for their 2025 vacancy, Guenther Steiner says.

Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari next year means Mercedes boss Toto Wolff must weigh up the huge decision of how to replace him.

Options range from teenage Kimi Antonelli to two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso.

But ex-Haas team principal has thrown a new name into the hat.

“If I were team boss at Mercedes, I wouldn't say no to Nico Hulkenberg either," Steiner told Sky.

"He was often underestimated and he was usually in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Maybe he'll be in the right place at the right time…”

Steiner brought Hulkenberg to Haas to benefit from his experience and they worked together last season.

Hulkenberg has been on the grid uninterrupted since 2010 driving for Williams, Force India, Sauber, Renault, Racing Point and Aston Martin before Haas.

But he has never earned a step up to one of F1’s traditionally bigger teams, after narrowly missing out on joining Ferrari in 2013.

Hulkenberg has previously described his Ferrari near-miss: “There were definitely some talks and I think there was a realistic opportunity for quite a decent period of time but then unfortunately in the end it did fall through.”

Now aged 36, he is among F1’s older statesman.

But this season already he has dragged his Haas further up the grid than many may have expected, and has reinforced his reputation as a particularly strong driver in qualifying.

“When you see what he did again, it was very cool,” Steiner said of Hulkenberg’s P10 finish at last weekend’s F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

As a German, Hulkenberg does have an obvious link to Mercedes as a manufacturer.

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are previous Germans to have driven for the Germany-based brand, while Mick Schumacher was their third driver last year.

Should Wolff opt for a stop-gap solution for the short-term before pinning his hopes on a star name from 2026 onwards, then maybe Hulkenberg will come into consideration as Steiner hopes.