Kimi Antonelli Warned of Pressure and Expectations That Come With Being a Special Talent

Christophe Perrin has provided many junior racing drivers with a passage toward a career at the pinnacle of single-seater motorsport. Perrin, who is Hitech GP’s technical director, has also seen Kimi Antonelli from close quarters during the Italian’s karting and open-wheel racing career.

While on the Track Limits podcast, the Frenchman was full of praise for Antonelli. Dubbing Antonelli a “pure talent”, Perrin is eager to see how the 18-year-old develops.

However, Perrin is also aware of the immense pressure Antonelli is likely to carry because of the hype he has received. The entire world’s eyes are on Antonelli as he is likely to make his F1 debut next year.

Perrin believes, “Now he has to deliver. Now he is in a position he has never been in before because now he has pressure. And to be able to deliver when you have pressure is different than when no one expects you to succeed. We will see if the kid is really a special one or not.”

That said, Antonelli has all the tools at his disposal to showcase his talent. As Perrin explained, the 18-year-old is in the perfect environment to succeed. With the backing of Toto Wolff and Mercedes along with PREMA in F2 currently, Antonelli is being set up for something really big.

The Italian racing prodigy himself is trying to cope with the pressures of being on the books of a multiple-time world champion team. On top of that, he will have the added burden of being the man to potentially replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli is unfazed by Mercedes F1 opportunity

There has been a lot of talk about Antonelli and whether he will be able to deliver alongside George Russell if he is promoted to that second Silver Arrows seat next year. However, by Antonelli’s recent response, it seems he is unlikely to be fazed by the challenge of going wheel-to-wheel against the best racing drivers of this generation.

Crash.net quoted Antonelli as saying, “I’m not afraid of being judged, I know Mercedes has a clear opinion about my potential. I am quite calm if the opportunity presented itself to me. I would take it with eagerness and try to make the most of it.”

With no concrete reports emerging from the Mercedes camp about Antonelli’s future, it is widely believed that he will be announced as Russell’s 2025 teammate in the coming months.