Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be under pressure to deliver in 2025 as he takes over from Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes at just 18 years old.
The Italian, who only recently passed his road car driving test, has earned a lot of praise from his peers at Mercedes for his maturity and ability to adapt to the highly pressurised working environment.
Mercedes has also created a support network around Kimi Antonelli, aimed at making sure that he is able to cope with everything once he makes his full-time debut at the Australian Grand Prix.
He has already been testing earlier this year with runs in a 2021 car at Jerez, while the team also ran him twice during FP1 sessions last year at Monza and Mexico City.
Kimi Antonelli’s run at Monza lasted just 10 minutes after he crashed at the Parabolica, suffering a 52G impact into the barriers after losing control of the W15.
It is expected that Kimi Antonelli will make more rookie errors during the season, however Mercedes does have a contingency plan if he struggles to meet his performance targets according to a report from The Race.
Kimi Antonelli could be demoted by Mercedes
Much of Kimi Antonelli’s season relies on Mercedes producing a car that is capable of winning races. The team showed promise last year with a car that took four victories at the hands of Hamilton and George Russell, but towards the end of the year they still had problems.
Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull are all expected to make significant strides in performance over the winter break, which means Mercedes will need to do the same if they want to fight for podiums.
Antonelli will have the help of Valtteri Bottas to lean on, after the team signed him as their test/reserve driver for the season.
But if he does fail to deliver on expectations, and mounts a large crash damage bill that impacts Mercedes cost cap, the team could demote him to another team further down the grid to gain more experience.
Where could Kimi Antonelli go if he demoted?
The benefit of Mercedes being an engine supplier is that they have multiple teams that they can partner with, should they need to give their driver another seat.
Williams seems like the obvious choice given they have previous history with James Vowles, plus there is a rumour that Carlos Sainz has a stipulation in his contract that enables him to drive with Mercedes should they ask.
READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats
Another option could be Alpine given they are set to run Mercedes engines from the 2026 season, with Jack Doohan reportedly only on a short term contract.
It would be a great shame if Kimi Antonelli does get demoted due to lack of performance, however the Italian would need to benefit from experience first if he wants to potentially challenge for titles in the future.
