With Lewis Hamilton vacating his Mercedes seat in 2025, there has been a lot of buzz around Andrea Kimi Antonelli filling the void. However, former Mercedes team member and world champion Nico Rosberg believes that the 17-year-old isn’t ready for the move. Despite Toto Wolff often mentioning the Italian prodigy’s name, Rosberg believes Mercedes would be taking the leap of faith on him a bit too soon.
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany (quoted by Motorsport-Total), Rosberg expressed his concerns about the potential move.
Is this the face of F1’s future?
Nico Rosberg has urged Mercedes to handle boy wonder Andrea Kimi Antonelli with care as the search for Lewis Hamilton’s successor continues.#F1 #Mercedes #LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/5JQlJ3nD8l
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) April 26, 2024
“Antonelli is definitely a superstar of the future. But unfortunately the timing is too early for him. And [it is] too early for Toto to choose Antonelli.”, he said.
Having won the Formula Regional championship in 2023, Kimi Antonelli skipped F3 to go directly to F2. He secured a driving seat with PREMA Racing but is yet to prove his mettle. The Italian driver is currently ninth in the drivers’ standings with 24 points to his name. Having secured no podiums thus far, Antonelli’s best finish was a P4 finish in Melbourne.
Given Antonelli’s performance in F2 thus far, Rosberg’s words make complete sense. The Italian needs to do better in the proving grounds before he can make it big in F1. As such, the better thing for Toto Wolff would be to wait and see him develop more. But, it doesn’t mean the young driver cannot test drive for Mercedes.
Toto Wolff is keen to see Antonelli drive a Mercedes car
Suggesting he may have talked a bit much about Antonelli, Wolff revealed in Japan that the development driver will soon get to test drive a Mercedes car. The Austrian team boss is excited to see the young driver take up the reins of driving the 2021-spec car in a test run.
Wolff is “keen and happy” to see Antonelli get a taste of a good Mercedes car before he even enters the F1 grid. Later this year, he may also take the wheel of the 2022 car – the W13, as it is now allowed for testing. The 17-year-old has surprised many people with his stark ascent, and Wolff would be hoping for him to continue on the same trajectory.
Kimi Antonelli and the W12 pic.twitter.com/CaDooHUFrl
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) April 17, 2024
Looking back at the time Antonelli has spent with Mercedes, Wolff recalled how he joined the team as an 11-year-old. Wolff revealed that he even had a picture of the two of them, where a “baby boy” Antonelli is standing next to him at the center console. To witness a small boy develop into a Formula 1 driver is something that Wolff is “really proud of.”
However, a question mark continues to dangle over Antonelli’s readiness for the sport. With Wolff waiting to see how the driver market progresses, it would be wise for him to turn to a more experienced driver and allow the Italian driver to develop. Otherwise, the pressure could be too much to handle for the up-and-coming driver.
