Being an 18-year-old and driving in Formula 1, Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be under immense pressure in 2025. Top that with racing for a team like Mercedes and replacing Lewis Hamilton, Antonelli will have to get on top of things as early as he can. The team looks up to the task to make that happen, thanks to the mentality inculcated by Toto Wolff.
That is the assessment of Matt Whyman, the writer who spent two years with the Mercedes crew to write the book — Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane. In one of his interactions, Whyman tells Wolff that he sees Mercedes as a family. The team boss refuted the claim and told him that he would rather see his personnel as a tribe.
“I wanted to describe it as a family and when I put that to Toto, he absolutely refuted it. He said, ‘We’re not a family, we’re a tribe.’ And I kind of understand what he means by that. I think a tribe is like a family on a war footing. So, they are this tribe and they will close around Kimi and they will give him all the support he needs and all the space he needs to make this work,” Whyman said on talkSPORT Driving.
Toto Wolff admits Mercedes didn’t commit to a longer-term Formula 1 contract with Lewis Hamilton because it didn’t want to risk losing protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Wolff has compared the situation with 2014, when the team was keen to sign Max Verstappen but had nowhere to put… pic.twitter.com/3b82hon0PU
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 28, 2024
Whyman also believes that Valtteri Bottas, if he returns to Mercedes as a reserve driver, will be helpful in providing Antonelli with some crucial insights to settle in quickly in F1. Whyman expects a similar attitude towards the rookie from George Russell, who will take the senior driver role at the Silver Arrows.
Antonelli’s not-so-good Mercedes debut
Antonelli hasn’t gotten off to a good start with Mercedes. He got a chance to drive in FP1 at the 2024 Italian GP. The local star put up some quick laps, even leaving Hamilton behind on the timesheet. However, the joy was short-lived as he got a little too throttle-friendly at the Parabolica and had a heavy shunt into the barriers.
Unsurprisingly, the team immediately rallied behind him, ensuring he was all right. Once that was out of the way, Wolff got on the team radio to tell Antonelli not to make too much of the incident.
In his interviews after the session, Wolff backed Antonelli, praising him for putting up a valiant effort while driving the car for the first time. This is the kind of confidence the entire team will have to show in Antonelli in 2025. But is the rookie driver ready to make the most of this support?
