This headline may be a bit premature given that Kimi Antonelli is only 19 years old, but the fact that he is only 19 years old and can produce performances like the one he has had in recent days at Interlagos is remarkable in itself.
The hype around Antonelli was big even before he approached F1, from when Mercedes threw him into an FP1 session just after his 18th birthday at Monza, to Toto Wolff waxing lyrical about his incredible speed during over 90 per cent of his flying laps, until the Italian crashed at Parabolica.
The excitement grew even more the next day when he was confirmed as one of the team’s race drivers for 2025, but so did concerns that it was a little too soon. No one doubted Antonelli’s talent, but whether it would be better for him to hone his skills and gain experience in F2 for another year before making the step up, or at least to develop with another team away from the front-line spotlight. It wasn’t that long ago that similar questions could still be raised, given that Wolff described Antonelli’s recent performance at Monza as “underwhelming”. Since then, the Italian has demonstrated progress that would probably only have been possible by being part of the Mercedes line-up.
While his improved performances in Baku and Singapore were encouraging, as was his sixth place ahead of George Russell in Mexico City, it was the way he put it all together throughout the sprint weekend in Brazil that caught the eye.
Antonelli was second behind Lando Norris in all important sessions and had been Mercedes’ leader for the past three days.
“I think he was strong from the start all weekend, and it’s good to see that,” team principal Wolff said. “Maybe he was coming to a course he didn’t know. It was a little bit easier. Expectations were probably lower. Maybe the pressure wasn’t as high as some Europeans, but the performance at the end was perfect.”
“Being able to get past Max (Verstappen) on the new, soft tires was really strong and a sign of what’s to come.
“I think it also meets his own expectations. He is very young, he is only 19 years old. When he comes to a track where he knows he has performed very well in the past (some European circuits), he is at a disadvantage…
“I’ve got sensational team-mates who couldn’t have been better. I think there’s almost less pressure coming to a track that you don’t know. Your expectations are lower, everyone else’s expectations are lower, and things like the pressure of the fans are less than at some of the courses in Europe. I think that plays a big role.”
“This is a development. Next year he’ll come to a course he knows, but I don’t expect him to kill it. It’s a learning year, a year we always expected to come, even with its ups and downs.”
“I’m feeling good today. It’s definitely a good moment. There will be some more difficult races, but let’s look at the next few races. I think we’ll see the boy turn into a young man and perform.”
The match against Brazil was a perfect match for the Italian youngster, apart from the obvious impending victory. Mark Thompson/Getty Images
For Antonelli himself, this weekend gave him a lot of confidence and showed that not only can he fulfill his potential, but he can fulfill that potential in a full weekend.
“I’ve had some good runs so far with some strong races,” Antonelli said. “This weekend was a weekend to put things together more and that’s what I have to do especially for the team. I’m having a lot of fun this weekend and I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
The perhaps less ideal moment of Antonelli’s race was the start and restart. He had to defend on both occasions, going three-wide with Charles Leclerc and getting hit by Oscar Piastri on the safety car restart. Piastri was given a penalty, but Antonelli admitted he was on the wrong side going into the corner and was lucky to be able to continue.
“I accelerated a little bit on the wet road, so I spun the wheels and lost momentum going into Turn 1,” said the rookie. “To be fair, there was one car on the outside and one car on the inside, so I found myself in a very difficult position.
“I tried to brake, but not too late. The problem was that I couldn’t see the car next to me anymore. I still tried to get a decent line in my position, but I ended up getting hit. I was lucky to survive because I obviously hit Charles pretty hard.”
“Unfortunately, he retired from the race, but for me I was lucky that I didn’t suffer too much damage. I sustained some minor damage to the car. I don’t think the steering wheel was completely straight, but I was very lucky that I was able to survive that and continue the race.”
His performance from that point on was impressive enough, but as Wolff hinted, it was when he came under immense pressure from Verstappen in the closing stages that Antonelli showed why he was even more excited about his potential.
“(It was) too stressful,” he said. “When Max made his last pit stop and Bono (race engineer Peter Bonnington) told him the gap, he was only nine seconds behind so I thought, ‘I might be in trouble’. Obviously he had new softs on.
“He had very strong pace in this race. He did a great job since coming back, but he put a lot of pressure on me at the end. We had to push the tires to the limit and it wasn’t easy, but I think we did our best and I’m really happy.”
“I found my rhythm. Obviously, when he came at me, I picked up the pace and started pushing a little more. I found my rhythm. In this car with the dirty air, it’s a little difficult to keep up. So I tried to use that to my advantage and it worked.”
Mercedes will also point to Antonelli’s efforts in his rookie year as paying off. Antonelli is starting to show signs that he and Russell could win races on a regular basis if they prepare a car that will compete for the championship in 2026.
