His promotion is a consequence of Hamilton’s resolution to depart Mercedes, which pressured the hand of crew principal Toto Wolff.
Wolff might nonetheless have farmed Antonelli out to a different crew to achieve expertise for a few years, as he did with Russell at Williams from 2019-21.
In the long run, Wolff most popular to easily throw Antonelli in on the deep finish, put together him properly with 1000’s of kilometres of testing in outdated automobiles, and belief his expertise.
Wolff has mentioned he expects errors, and that it’s Mercedes’ job to assist Antonelli develop. And the driving force – who crashed closely on his second flying lap when given an outing in follow eventually yr’s Italian Grand Prix – is conscious of the accountability.
“I need to have a clear run, good rhythm, constant,” he says. “However the mindset goes to be the identical, happening monitor and attempt to win, attempt to be as quick as potential, attempt to get as finest end result as potential.”
Antonelli’s expertise is just not the one motive he has stood out. There’s additionally his title.
He’s identified universally in F1 as “Kimi”, most likely as a result of his center title carries clearly heavy resonance.
However though there’s motorsport within the household – father Marco is a sports activities automobile racer – Antonelli says he was not named after Finnish 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
“Mainly, my dad and mom needed to present me a second title that might match properly with the primary title and the surname, however they did not need a second Italian title,” he says. “They needed one thing different.
“A very good buddy of ours, his title is Enrico Bertaggia, he has a background of racing. (Bertaggia was entered in eight grands prix for back-of-the-grid groups between 1989-92). He determined to call me Kimi. My dad and mom mentioned: ‘Yeah, it sounds nice.’ And so I acquired named.”
Antonelli says he understands why everybody calls him Kimi, fairly than his precise first title.
“It’s extra pure,” he says. “It’s good and brief. Particularly on the planet of racing, it’s such an iconic title.
“My finest mates, my shut mates, all of them name me Andrea. Additionally my household.”
Remarkably, Antonelli was born 5 years after Fernando Alonso made his debut in F1 in 2001, and the 2 can be on the identical grid as one another this yr.
Antonelli says it’s “a privilege” to share the F1 grid with drivers resembling Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
And there are different historic resonances about Antonelli. He says his hero rising up was three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, and coincidentally there’s something of the legendary Brazilian in Antonelli’s seems to be.
“Yeah, (individuals) informed me that,” he says. “I do not actually like being in contrast as a result of I feel each individual has his personal persona however he’s my idol, he’s my reference, so it will be cool simply to realize even little a part of what he achieved in his entire profession.”
