Mercedes have done all they can to prepare Kimi Antonelli for his Formula 1 debut in 2025. Antonelli will become the third-youngest driver in the sport’s history at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
Team principal Toto Wolff knows he’s taken a risk. Antonelli is clearly rapid, but he’s also raw, as he demonstrated emphatically when he crashed out of his first F1 practice session after just 10 minutes.
Antonelli’s Monza crash was one of the biggest of the season, and though he wrecked George Russell’s car, Mercedes were notably gentle on him – at least in the public domain. They’re managing their latest academy graduate very carefully.
Indeed, Mercedes blocked media access to Antonelli during the first half of the 2024 season so he could remain focused. On the track, he’s conducted an extensive testing programme in old machinery.
Antonelli crashed during testing, according to James Allen, but he’s also racked up far more F1 mileage than most rookies. One of five full-time debutants next year, he’ll naturally face the most scrutiny given that he’s jumped straight into a contending car.
Wolff has already downplayed expectations for Antonelli as he tries to control the narrative. He views 2025 as a necessary learning year before the Italian can start to show his best form in 2026.
Kimi Antonelli runs wide in leaked clip from recent Mercedes test
Antonelli has already been action this year, driving the 2020 Mercedes at the Jerez circuit. The W11 belongs to a previous era, predating the ground-effect generation.
But the Silver Arrows wanted the teenager to shake off the winter rust and regain sharpness before the more meaningful test sessions. Lewis Hamilton made his first testing appearance for Mercedes at Jerez, hitting the wall on day one.
- READ MORE: Toto Wolff reveals the incredible number of race distances Kimi Antonelli has completed in Mercedes tests
Leaked footage shared on Instagram shows Antonelli circulating without any such drama. However, he does run wide on the exit of the first corner, with all four wheels straying well beyond the white line.
F1 pundit Alex Brundle, who commentated on Antonelli’s one and only F2 season, poked fun at him on his story. Reacting to the clip, he wrote: “Kimi testing on (and paved areas close to) the circuit of Jerez.”
How many races does Kimi Antonelli have to break Max Verstappen’s win record?
Antonelli ‘responded better’ to the latest F1 cars than Hamilton, one journalist has learned. The seven-time world champion has struggled to adapt to the idiosyncratic Mercedes after driving its dominant predecessors, but his replacement didn’t have that same reference.
Still, he may have noticed a difference with the W11, which cruised to the championship. Mercedes won 13 out of 17 races that year, taking 25 podiums.
Antonelli is trying to break Max Verstappen’s record and become F1’s youngest race-winner this season. It may not be the most realistic objective, but he’ll surely be aware of it.
He has three races before he’s older than the Dutchman was at the 2016 Spanish GP, his debut for Red Bull. Junior engineers have compared Antonelli to Verstappen, but he must now justify that hype at the highest level.
