Mercedes may have believed that their 2025 Formula 1 car was an upgrade on last year’s machine, but could never have imagined that they would be joint top of the constructors’ championship after the Australian Grand Prix.
George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli deserve heaps of praise for avoiding all the drama that unravelled in Melbourne.
Antonelli was unlucky to be eliminated in Q1 after picking up damage on his car and had the unenviable task of trying to pick his way through the pack in difficult conditions.
Mercedes have developed a decent car and while many of Antonelli’s rookie contemporaries were spinning off the circuit, he – mainly – kept his machine on the racing line.
The young Italian spun off the track after overtaking Nico Hulkenberg but avoided the barriers and that was the crucial aspect of Sunday’s race.
Antonelli watched both Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso hit the barriers at the Australian Grand Prix and Mercedes timed their pit stops perfectly to come home P3 and P4.
It means they have the same number of points – 27 – as McLaren after Lando Norris’ victory and Oscar Piastri’s late recovery following a spin.
Damon Hill reacted to Antonelli’s debut on social media and it’s safe to say he was impressed with the 18-year-old.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli receives praise from Damon Hill after the Australian Grand Prix
Posting on his Instagram story after the race, Hill reacted to Antonelli finishing fourth and said: “Quite a debut after all!”
It didn’t look like Antonelli was going to score 12 points after crossing the line fourth as he had initially been handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane.
That was then overturned, demoting Alex Albon to P5 and making a good day for Mercedes even better.
READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats
Antonelli told Sky Sports after his debut: “It was good, it was really a really eventful race I wanted the podium so bad but I wasn’t aware of the penalty which was unfortunate but I can’t complain about today.
“The team did a great job, they guided me through, after the mistake it kind of hurt my confidence a little bit and the team did great to calm me down and get me back into the rhythm. They also made all the right calls and I’m really happy about today.”
Kimi Antonelli already living up to Mercedes potential after replacing Lewis Hamilton
Although Antonelli was of only three drivers who took part in the Australian Grand Prix weekend that hadn’t started a race, he’s far from being inexperienced.
Antonelli has completed thousands of testing miles but there’s a big difference between running on an empty track and navigating slower traffic on a soaking wet circuit.
However, there’s a reason why team principal Toto Wolff has put so much faith in an 18-year-old.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Marc Priestley says Mercedes engineers believe he’s a generational talent on a similar level to Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
His debut can’t really be compared to those two drivers given they were in different cars with different aspirations.
However, the signs are already very promising and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was on the podium sooner rather than later.
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