“We Are Very Pleased by Kimi”: Andrew Shovlin on Antonelli Being the ‘Fastest Rookie’ in Mexico

Kimi Antonelli made his second FP1 appearance of the season for Mercedes in Mexico last weekend. With four other rookies on track that afternoon, many speculated about where the Silver Arrows believed he ranked.

As it turned out, Mercedes was pleased with Antonelli’s progress. Andrew Shovlin noted that Antonelli’s development throughout the season had been impressive, underscoring why he was selected as their driver for the 2025 season and beyond.

The Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director remarked in the team’s post-race debrief,

“We were keen that he managed to do the entire session which he did well. As you said there were five rookies there. Kimi was the fastest amongst them so that was good to see.”

Other than Antonelli, the other rookies who were a part of the session were Pat O’Ward (McLaren), Robert Schwartzman (Sauber), Oliver Bearman (Ferrari), and Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin).

Antonelli finished in P12, ahead of all these rookies, completing 19 laps with a personal best lap time of 1:19.200,

| Kimi Antonelli after FP1 in Mexico:

“I wanted to deliver a clean FP1 session for the team today and I was pleased that I was able to do that. It was my first time driving the circuit here, so I stayed very much within the limit and just built my confidence lap-by-lap.… pic.twitter.com/WnsODCxESE

— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) October 26, 2024

Still, Antonelli was disappointed with his performance, as Shovlin revealed. He had hoped to place higher than 12th, but, according to Shovlin, he held back to avoid risking any damage to Lewis Hamilton’s car, which he was using for the session.

With only four races remaining before Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Antonelli is set to follow in his footsteps at Mercedes. However, the 18-year-old humbly insisted that Hamilton is irreplaceable.

Hamilton can’t ever be replaced

Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and went on to win six World Championships and establish himself as one of the greatest drivers in F1 history. As such, replacing a driver of his caliber and pedigree wouldn’t be easy, and Antonelli knows that.

After his outing last weekend, Antonelli shared what the thought of filling in Hamilton’s shoes feels like.

“I have to be honest, no one can ever replace Lewis because he’s such a great driver, such a great figure in the sport,” he said to F1 media.

Hamilton recognizes Antonelli’s talent, having praised him several times throughout the season. He is confident in the Italian driver’s ability to propel the team forward and has encouraged him to give his best and enjoy the experience, a sentiment he shared in Mexico.