For Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, it’s private selling Andrea Kimi Antonelli to a Formulation 1 race seat with the Silver Arrows squad at simply 18.
Wolff is viewing Antonelli’s sensational rise by the junior formulation as the prospect to place proper what went fallacious in Mercedes lacking out on Max Verstappen’s companies again in 2014.
Motorsport.com understands that the Austrian even feels that, had Verstappen been below his wing as Antonelli is now, then the outbursts and incidents which have tracked by the world champion’s profession would’ve been decreased in quantity, if not eradicated altogether.
Understanding Wolff is a essential facet of Antonelli’s story up to now – simply sooner or later away from making his first official F1 race weekend look as a full-time driver. A Monza one-off in entrance of his residence Italian crowd this isn’t.
Wolff signed Antonelli – the son of GT racer Marco Antonelli who owns AKM Motorsport racing group and has a tricky man fame in motorsport circles – again in 2018 when he was simply 12. A improvement programme with F1 as the final word vacation spot adopted, with Wolff now thought-about a agency pal of the Antonelli household.
As a a number of karting champion, Antonelli stepped as much as automobile racing in Formulation 4 in 2021 – profitable the Italian and ADAC championships the next yr. Then in 2023 and simply his first season, Antonelli gained the Formulation Regional European championship that F1 groups have come to view as the very best breeding floor for future driving success, in addition to its Center East variation.
Mercedes opted to skip the F3 step on the F1 assist invoice and place Antonelli instantly in Formulation 2 for 2024 – with the intention for the famously precarious championship to cease his ‘profitable straightforward’ streak.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing
Photograph by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Pictures
Wolff and co had ideas on this being a two-year undertaking earlier than Lewis Hamilton’s defection to Ferrari turbocharged the tempo of Antonelli’s F1 commencement.
“I made up my thoughts 5 minutes after Lewis Hamilton instructed me that he was going,” Wolff ultimately stated of his choice to associate Antonelli with George Russell for 2025.
However, in any case, Mercedes was extra focused on how Antonelli delivered in its Testing of Earlier Automobiles (TPC) programme than his F2 ends in a 2024 marketing campaign made more durable by his Prema group struggling initially with the championship’s new automobile.
Antonelli’s TPC programme utilised each 2021 and 2022 Mercedes F1 automobiles. Earlier than his first within the former, the illustrious W12, he made certain to memorise all 30 employees members required to run the automobile within the check on the Crimson Bull Ring. Either side took this rise extraordinarily critically.
An extra smart train in testing Tremendous Formulation equipment late in 2024 – particularly to study the Suzuka monitor – was scuppered by sickness that had additionally severely impacted Antonelli’s closing F2 spherical in Abu Dhabi final yr.
After which, identical to that, he was being led across the press room by a Mercedes press attache on the F175 Dwell occasion to fulfill the media as a fully-fledged Mercedes race driver.
“It has been fairly fascinating,” he stated when Motorsport.com requested if he felt his life had modified in that brief time.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes
Photograph by: Getty Pictures
“Winter preparation has been fairly intense. I have been spending numerous time on the manufacturing unit attempting to do numerous group constructing. However, to this point, it has been actually fascinating and it is gone effectively.
“I have been actually attempting to focus, day-to-day, on the progress and attempting to concentrate on attempting to study as many issues as doable. As a result of what I need to keep away from is arriving to Melbourne and having some dangerous surprises. So undoubtedly preparation has been fairly intense, however excellent.”
Pre-season testing in 2025 went effectively for Mercedes, with Antonelli’s day two race simulation shading Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by simply 0.1s every lap on common.
Nonetheless, Antonelli left Bahrain lamenting a scarcity of preparation in extracting the very best from the Pirelli tyres in qualifying attributable to time misplaced in sudden rain after which a battery challenge. Qualifying is, in any case, one in all his new team-mate Russell’s biggest strengths.
“For the lengthy runs, I obtained fairly an honest understanding as a result of I have been doing numerous lengthy runs and been experiencing various kinds of approaches,” he stated. “[For example,] learn how to introduce the tyre into the run.
“While for qualifying, there’s nonetheless some work to do.
“However it’s primarily due to testing we have been attempting numerous completely different approaches with tyres. Additionally completely different type of out-laps to be able to see how the tyres react and the way it holds on throughout the lap.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures
However, nearly as good as Bahrain went for the Silver Arrows squad, Ferrari and Crimson Bull are anticipated to have maintained their positions above Mercedes within the four-way scrap with McLaren.
This implies Antonelli will likely be doing his studying within the glare of the media highlight to which solely Liam Lawson will be capable of relate of the large rookie crop this season.
It additionally means Antonelli is more likely to be retreading the bottom of studying to win at a brand new and even more durable degree. And, ought to there be any repeats of his 2024 Monza FP1 shunting, then it’s probably Wolff might want to choose his cost up simply as he did at essential occasions final yr.
“After we determined to go for Kimi, it was clear that we’re going for a younger driver that has proven great potential within the junior sequence since we have recognized him,” Wolff stated in Melbourne on Thursday.
“For Kimi, it is concerning the time to develop, to study the tracks, to be on prime for subsequent yr, the regulation change. Which means nice outcomes and meaning moments the place it is going to be tougher.”
Pictures from Australian GP – Thursday
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Alex Kalinauckas
Formulation 1
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
Be the primary to know and subscribe for real-time information electronic mail updates on these matters
Subscribe to information alerts
