Andrea Kimi Antonelli is going to feel the weight of expectations on his young shoulders at Mercedes. Replacing a seven-time world champion is going to be a rather steep task for the 18-year-old. While it is understandable that he would fail on occasions to match Lewis Hamilton’s consistency, many are keen to see whether Antonelli lives up to the ‘Wonderkid’ reputation he has developed.
ESPN F1 journalist Nate Saunders feels for the Italian rookie for the same reason. Saunders highlighted how it just doesn’t make sense to expect an 18-year-old to deliver top-class performances from the get-go. He brought up how Antonelli crashed out at Monza last year when he stepped in the Mercedes car for the FP1 session.
So, there is a rawness in the Italian prodigy’s racecraft, which needs some polishing at the Silver Arrows. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has publicly backed Antonelli quite a lot while speaking highly of how talented he is. Saunders feels that amid the hype and high expectations around his debut F1 season, Antonelli is lucky to have Wolff as his team principal.
“Toto Wolff’s a pragmatic guy. He’s not going to throw Kimi Antonelli under the bus if he has a few bad crashes early on, which might be different in other teams,” Saunders added. It was surprising to see how much backing Antonelli got from Wolff even after his crash in Monza, something the ESPN journalist also discussed.
Instead of criticizing the young Italian for his 45G crash at the Parabolica corner, Wolff decided to praise him for his incredible speeds until that moment. “Toto Wolff said it, I’d rather slow down a quick driver than try and make a slow driver speed up,” Saunders added.
Wise words from Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff following Kimi Antonelli’s Italian GP FP1 crash ️ pic.twitter.com/Fen6nKExby
— Autosport (@autosport) August 30, 2024
So, it seems like Wolff and Mercedes are willing to accept the risks of having a young talent like Antonelli who may crash, at times, during his debut year at the pinnacle of motorsport. Saunders also feels that the Italian driver may have a very “up-and-down” season in 2025. Still, Mercedes are willing to wait until Antonelli learns his ways and starts achieving his elite-level potential.
Can Antonelli live up to Hamilton’s benchmark in the long term?
The kind of junior formula career, except F2, that Antonelli has had speaks volumes about his racing talent. The likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton also had such a rise. Verstappen, in particular, broke onto the F1 scene at a younger age of 17 than Antonelli.
So, the initial feeling around the Italian adds up. Saunders also added how Hamilton and Verstappen’s debut seasons gave a glimpse of what they can achieve in the long term. “These guys come out and just grab the initiative.”
As for Antonelli’s batch of young drivers, Saunders praised how “prepared” and “ready” all of them are to ply their trade at the pinnacle of motorsport. So, Antonelli definitely has the ingredients to live up to Hamilton’s high benchmarks, if he gains the maturity as time passes.
Nevertheless, a lot will also depend on how competitive Mercedes can become in the coming years. As of now, the Brackley outfit have been in no man’s land in the midfield, with a third or fourth-best at its disposal. Their cars have suffered from balance issues for the last two seasons, with Hamilton himself complaining about how the car has often been on a knife’s edge.
It won’t be a welcome situation for Antonelli as he will be on his own learning curve during his maiden F1 season. Ideally, if he can adapt to maximize the potential of whatever car Mercedes gives him, it would help the Italian a lot.
