His 2025 Components 1 debut with Mercedes is not even definitively determined or introduced but, however few drivers could be arriving on the large stage with the plaudits or the load of expectation as Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Celebrating his 18th birthday on the Sunday of the Dutch Grand Prix later this month, Antonelli has had a meteoric rise, vaulting straight from Components Regional right into a Components 2 seat, all whereas being groomed to be the inheritor of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli had lengthy been earmarked as Hamilton’s successor, however the Briton’s shock departure to Ferrari caught Mercedes chief Toto Wolff without warning and has meant the squad accelerated the Italian’s improvement programme.
It takes a powerful pair of shoulders and a superb assist system to deal with that fast ascension. However whereas life is shifting fairly quick for {the teenager}, he hasn’t forgotten to cease and go searching occasionally to understand the journey he’s on.
In his first wide-ranging interview, Antonelli tells Autosport he isn’t taking something as a right, neither is he afraid of being judged on the most important stage.
“Some extent of fear I feel is at all times there, the prospect of not with the ability to carry out I feel frightens everybody,” Antonelli says concerning the prospect of changing into an F1 rookie. “My method is to see it as an important alternative to study, develop and in addition benefit from the second.
“I am not afraid of being judged, I do know Mercedes has a transparent opinion about my potential, already this season in F2 the championship did not kick off in the easiest way however there have been no unfavourable ideas.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12
“I’m fairly calm, if the chance offered itself to me I’d take it with eagerness and attempt to profit from it.
“Lately there was some strain on me with all of the rumours about subsequent yr, however I’ve at all times tried to take pleasure in it. I am having fun with the alternatives I’ve.”
Regardless of an atypically powerful begin for single-seater powerhouse Prema, Antonelli’s maiden F2 marketing campaign has up to now yielded two wins and he heads into the summer time break seventh within the standings. His team-mate, future Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman, is down in fifteenth after an equally rocky begin which included sitting out the Saudi Arabia spherical to deputise for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari.
However whereas F2 is an efficient sufficient faculty to hone racecraft and study to deal with the strain of competitors, what Mercedes is judging Antonelli’s progress on most is personal testing with two-year-old equipment, which has been an eye-popping expertise.
“Throughout pre-season testing in Bahrain I used to be informed the dates and at that time I mentioned to myself, ‘Nicely, you are actually going to drive an F1 automobile!’ It was a really, very particular second, as a result of there was a day and a monitor, in black on white,” he recounts.
His first two-day take a look at occurred in April on the Purple Bull Ring, driving the 2021 Mercedes W12 that final yielded the Silver Arrows a constructors’ title. In later checks at Imola and Silverstone he moved to the 2022-spec W13, which as a floor impact automobile is far more just like the present era but in addition tougher and unpredictable to drive; simply ask Hamilton or George Russell.
“It was a very nice expertise,” Antonelli mentioned about his maiden F1 outing. “I carried that pleasure with me by way of the primary lap too, even when the circumstances weren’t the perfect, it was raining and within the afternoon it even snowed!
Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12
“Then on the second day the monitor improved and within the dry the efficiency emerged; energy, deceleration, aerodynamic load. It was loopy.
“Once I arrived on the monitor I simply opened the door of the storage and was shocked to see how many individuals have been there, each engineers and mechanics, all to run a single automobile.
“You could have to have the ability to reply and supply plenty of info after they ask you questions. It took me some time to get used to it, however now every thing already appears regular to me.”
Ripping world wide’s biggest circuits in a Components 1 automobile is one factor. However discovering the restrict in a machine that seems to offer a bottomless pit of grip and efficiency is a distinct matter, which dawned on Antonelli as he scurried by way of Silverstone’s quick swoops of Copse, Maggots and Becketts.
“Unbelievable,” he chuckles. “You assume it isn’t attainable, then once you strive it and see that the automobile stays in it, you say… man, there’s nonetheless a margin!
“An F1 automobile provides you plenty of confidence, and one problem I bumped into was discovering the restrict. Each time I ask for a bit extra, the automobile provides it to me. The second will come when I’ll perceive that there’s nothing extra to squeeze out, that would be the restrict, however it’s a very slender window.
“I’m conscious that the margin for error may be very skinny. However the extra the boldness with the automobile grows, the extra snug I really feel.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes testing at Imola
Picture by: Davide Cavazza
“I did not plan on coming to F2 and successful every thing”
At Mercedes, Antonelli has needed to drink from a firehose of data, however that capability had already been put to the take a look at after his leap from Components Regional to F2, skipping F3 within the course of. It’s paying homage to Max Verstappen’s rise, bypassing F2 after Purple Bull supplied him a straight promotion from F3 right into a Toro Rosso seat to develop into F1’s youngest-ever driver.
Given his relative lack of expertise in automobiles, Antonelli says he was by no means taking F2 success as a right like some observers did.
“No, as a result of I by no means anticipated to go straight into F2,” he says. “After they knowledgeable me that this was the plan, I believed it might be an enormous bounce, since you often go to F3 first, however on the similar time the problem was instantly interesting to me.
“I did not plan on coming to F2 and successful every thing, I used to be at all times conscious that the bounce from Components Regional could be very difficult and I used to be conscious that I had quite a bit to study, which I’m nonetheless doing.
“I’m additionally very proud of the connection I’ve [with Wolff]. In troublesome moments I ask him for recommendation and he at all times appears to be like for a strategy to give me confidence.
“I am going to provide you with an instance. After the disappointing qualifying in Silverstone I known as him as a result of it was a little bit of a troublesome time. We talked quite a bit and that dialog gave me again my confidence, and the subsequent day I received and it was very nice to see him below the rostrum.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing
Picture by: Prema Powerteam
“If you undergo troublesome instances, I feel you come out stronger in the long run, additionally by way of perspective. Silverstone and Budapest confirmed it.”
However as a lot as Wolff is backing Antonelli to be his man for the longer term and the Italian is eager for his massive alternative, he refuses to get forward of himself. Desires are precisely that till they develop into a actuality.
“I am very pleased to be thought-about, however I am not asking for something,” he stresses. “In the meanwhile my purpose is to do effectively in Components 2, then we’ll see.
“I nonetheless see it as a dream. Sure, I did occur to consider it, however it’s a passing thought.
“In all honesty I can let you know that for me right this moment it’s nonetheless a dream. We’ll see if it comes true.”
