Formula 1 rookie ‘wrote off’ two cars in unseen test accidents before making 2025 debut

Six new full-time drivers have joined the Formula 1 grid in 2025. After three races, they have all had mixed success.

One of them have already suffered a demotion as Liam Lawson has returned to Racing Bulls after just two races with Red Bull. The New Zealander had desperately struggled to get accustomed to the RB21, failing to reach Q2 in Melbourne and Shanghai.

Lawson is looking to regain his confidence at Racing Bulls, but the 23-year-old may not be the only rookie to lose his seat. Jack Doohan is fighting to stay in F1 as Franco Colapinto is putting him under pressure at Alpine.

The Aussie is yet to score a point, as is Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Isack Hadjar grabbed his first points at the Japanese Grand Prix for Racing Bulls, marking an incredible recovery from his demoralising crash on his F1 debut.

Oliver Bearman has used his previous experience to pick up five points for Haas thus far, but Kimi Antonelli has been by far the most impressive rookie in 2025.

The Mercedes protege is fifth in the standings with 30 points. His performances are hardly surprising, given the car he is driving and the extensive preparations he was put under ahead of his rookie campaign.

Kimi Antonelli ‘wrote off’ two cars in private testing before 2025 debut with Mercedes

Antonelli’s F1 career did not get off to a great start as he crashed George Russell’s W15 just 10 minutes into his debut FP1 appearance at Monza. It is no surprise then that Mercedes put him through a heavy development programme.

Antonelli completed 9000km in private testing ahead of his rookie season in 2025. The same cannot be said for Lawson at Red Bull, who had very little preparation in comparison.

In that time, the Mercedes talent was said to have written off two cars during his programme, but he would have learned a lot from the experience. Speaking via James Allen on F1, Matthew Marsh was confused why Lawson did not have the same training as Antonelli.

“Why wasn’t Liam Lawson doing 10,000km of testing like Kimi Antonelli was, who we think is going to be great and who apparently wrote off two cars during that testing programme.

“And has been given the chance to succeed whereas Liam Lawson has not. So what do we expect? I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way that team goes about its programme and it’s got away with it because its got Max Verstappen.

“But without Max Verstappe, they’d be toast.”

READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats

Mercedes’ extensive training for Kimi Antonelli is already paying off

Antonelli is already proving his worth in F1 with some stellar performances, particularly on his F1 debut. The Italian drove from P16 to a stunning fourth, finishing behind teammate Russell off the podium.

However, he was lucky not to find the barriers like several other rookies as he dipped a wheel on the grass at turn four. Toto Wolff warned Antonelli to ‘stay away’ from the white lines to avoid an accident.

It seems the 18-year-old took that on board as he finished sixth in China – controversially winning Driver of the Day – and at Suzuka.

The Italian collected the fastest lap at the Japanese Grand Prix – although he does not earn a point for it anymore – and even led the race at one stage after the pit stops. Antonelli broke Max Verstappen’s record for the youngest driver to lead a race – he will be determined to collect a win in 2025.