Mercedes undertakes a Verstappen-like project with Antonelli

For Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, it’s private selling Andrea Kimi Antonelli to a Components 1 race seat with the Silver Arrows squad at simply 18.

Wolff is viewing Antonelli’s sensational rise by way of the junior formulation as the possibility to place proper what went improper in Mercedes lacking out on Max Verstappen’s companies again in 2014.

Autosport understands that the Austrian even feels that, had Verstappen been underneath his wing as Antonelli is now, then the outbursts and incidents which have tracked by way of the world champion’s profession would’ve been diminished in quantity, if not eradicated altogether.

Understanding Wolff is a vital side of Antonelli’s story thus far – simply in the future 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 staff and has a tricky man repute in motorsport circles – again in 2018 when he was simply 12. A improvement programme with F1 as the last word vacation spot adopted, with Wolff now thought of a agency good friend of the Antonelli household.

As a a number of karting champion, Antonelli stepped as much as automobile racing in Components 4 in 2021 – successful the Italian and ADAC championships the next yr. Then in 2023 and simply his first season, Antonelli received the Components Regional European championship that F1 groups have come to view as one of the best breeding floor for future driving success, in addition to its Center East variation.

Mercedes opted to skip the F3 step on the F1 help invoice and place Antonelli instantly in Components 2 for 2024 – with the intention for the famously precarious championship to cease his ‘successful simple’ streak.

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Wolff and co had ideas on this being a two-year challenge 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 finally stated of his choice to associate Antonelli with George Russell for 2025.

However, in any case, Mercedes was extra all in favour of how Antonelli delivered in its Testing of Earlier Automobiles (TPC) programme than his F2 leads to a 2024 marketing campaign made tougher by his Prema staff 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 positive to memorise all 30 workers members required to run the automobile within the take a look at on the Crimson Bull Ring. Either side took this rise extraordinarily significantly.

An additional wise train in testing Tremendous Components equipment late in 2024 – particularly to be taught the Suzuka monitor – was scuppered by sickness that had additionally severely impacted Antonelli’s remaining F2 spherical in Abu Dhabi final yr.

After which, similar 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 attention-grabbing,” he stated when Autosport requested if he felt his life had modified in that quick time.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

Picture by: Getty Pictures

“Winter preparation has been fairly intense. I have been spending a number of time on the manufacturing facility attempting to do a number of staff constructing. However, to this point, it has been actually attention-grabbing and it is gone properly.

“I have been actually attempting to focus, day-to-day, on the progress and attempting to concentrate on attempting to be taught as many issues as doable. As a result of what I wish to keep away from is arriving to Melbourne and having some dangerous surprises. So positively preparation has been fairly intense, however superb.”

Pre-season testing in 2025 went properly for Mercedes, with Antonelli’s day two race simulation shading Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by simply 0.1s every lap on common.

However, Antonelli left Bahrain lamenting a scarcity of preparation in extracting one of the best from the Pirelli tyres in qualifying as a consequence of time misplaced in sudden rain after which a battery situation. Qualifying is, in any case, certainly one of his new team-mate Russell’s biggest strengths.

“For the lengthy runs, I bought fairly an honest understanding as a result of I have been doing a number of lengthy runs and been experiencing various kinds of approaches,” he stated. “[For example,] the way 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 a number of totally different approaches with tyres. Additionally totally different sort of out-laps so as to see how the tyres react and the way it holds on through the lap.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures

However, pretty much 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 probably be doing his studying within the glare of the media highlight to which solely Liam Lawson will be capable of relate of the massive 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 harder degree. And, ought to there be any repeats of his 2024 Monza FP1 shunting, then it’s possible Wolff might want to choose his cost up simply as he did at vital instances final yr.

“Once we determined to go for Kimi, it was clear that we’re going for a younger driver that has proven large potential within the junior sequence since we have recognized him,” Wolff stated in Melbourne on Thursday.

“For Kimi, it is in regards to the time to develop, to be taught the tracks, to be on prime for subsequent yr, the regulation change. Meaning nice outcomes and meaning moments the place it will be tougher.”