Kimi Antonelli is set to make his Formula 1 debut for Mercedes next year. The Italian racing driver turned 18 last month, and now has some veteran insight from former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who has revealed the expectations Toto Wolff will have from his rookie.
Bottas drove for the Silver Arrows from 2017 to 2021. He explains that his view comes from personal experience and he has no doubt that the team will do its best to prepare Antonelli for the challenge of a rookie season that lies ahead of him.
Antonelli‘s rise has been meteoric, to say the least. He has enjoyed a very successful junior career and received a promotion directly to F2 from the FRECA series this year. Naturally, the hype around him has been massive and Mercedes’ decision to promote him to F1 means the team has high hopes riding on him.
The #77 driver explains that the pressures of driving for a team like Mercedes will always be focused on performance and no one will demand more from Antonelli than Wolff himself. On the Sky Sports F1 podcast, he said,
“If they [Mercedes] have a race-winning car, they want to get the points with both cars. So, that’s the name of the game. [And] knowing him [Wolff], he will expect great things, that’s natural.”
Toto Wolff não tem dúvidas sobre o potencial de Antonelli:
“Preferimos ter um problema para desacelerá-lo do que torná-lo mais rápido…
O que vimos em 1,5 voltas [antes do acidente] é surpreendente.” pic.twitter.com/N4fOUJOYnc— Mercedes-AMG F1 Brasil (@MercedesAMGF1BR) August 30, 2024
Host Matt Baker also quizzed Bottas about which team he would join if he was a rookie. The 35-year-old stated that if a team like Mercedes came calling, he would definitely be jumping at the opportunity. He stated,
“You always want to go to the best team, you know. The faster the car, that’s where you want to go”.
And it will not only be the Mercedes bosses who will scrutinize Antonelli’s performances. The 18-year-old has been and will continue to be under immense pressure from the media as well.
The pressure will be even higher as he will replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. However, Bottas is confident that the team will do everything possible to prepare the Italian, both mentally and physically.
