Kimi Antonelli’s rise to the top has been meteoric. Just over a year ago, he was celebrating a Formula Regional Championship victory. Now, he is preparing for his first full F1 season with Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
Antonelli‘s Formula Regional results and performances were so impressive that Mercedes—his parent team—promoted him directly to F2. In fact, their faith in him was so strong that he was announced as a Silver Arrows driver even before his rookie F2 campaign ended.
It is undoubtedly a huge jump. At 18 years old, Antonelli will be one of the youngest drivers in the history of the sport and will be dealing with a huge amount of expectations.
Unsurprisingly, a lot has changed in life for the Italian driver. During the annual Autosport Awards, he described these changes to YouTuber Lissie Mackintosh on the red carpet.
“Schedules first of all,” he said. “Ever since the announcement I have been working very hard with the team. In order to prepare for this season — which is going to be really important. And then also the physical side. Definitely, the work has changed quite a bit.”
The prep for 2025 continues. Testing with Kimi Antonelli at Yas Marina pic.twitter.com/Myx6kNavTI
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 19, 2024
Antonelli explained that he will need to be in top physical form, as the exertion of driving a full F1 Grand Prix will be very different from what he has been used to in the junior categories.
There has been a lot of hype and anticipation surrounding Antonelli’s debut. Not only will he be one of the youngest drivers on the 2025 grid, but he has also been drafted into Mercedes to fill the shoes of Hamilton.
Hamilton passes the torch.
Matching Hamilton should not be an immediate concern for Antonelli. That’s because it would most likely be impossible to do so. The Briton won six World titles between 2014 and 2020, during what was a dominant era for the team, far from where they are currently.
That’s why, to chase titles, Hamilton left for Ferrari. But he did take time out to leave a heartfelt note for his 18-year-old successor in his driver’s room.
Stephen Lord, Mercedes’ team coordinator revealed how an emotional Hamilton spent his final few moments in the room writing a message for Antonelli. Although he didn’t quote what the seven-time champ wrote exactly, he revealed what it was about.
“I walked into the room and on the wall there’s quite a long, handwritten note on the wall, and it was a note to Kimi, and it was basically welcoming him to his new room, and it was wishing him the best of luck, saying some really nice things about the team and how if you care for them, they’ll care for you, because they’re a great team,” Lord said.
Not surprising. Because even before Hamilton had to vacate his room after the season finale, he was always extremely supportive of Antonelli. “I didn’t expect it. He’s very kind and talks to me a lot, and the style is similar to mine with a very understeering car,” he said in an interview last year.
