Andrea Kimi Antonelli was extra nervous than he had been for a while. A racing driver’s profession can usually hinge on sliding doorways moments corresponding to these.
The 18-year-old wasn’t attempting to safe a Method One drive. He accomplished that mission months in the past when he signed with Mercedes to interchange Lewis Hamilton.
He was about to take a seat his driving take a look at.
Thirty minutes later, the Italian teenager beamed beneath his mop of curly hair and raised a thumb to the digital camera. He’d handed — first time, after all. There could be no must squeeze in one other take a look at between the hectic journey calls for of the F1 calendar. And the ‘honor’ of being an lively F1 driver with no street license — as soon as true of Max Verstappen, who debuted at age 17 — won’t apply to Antonelli.
It was an early dose of strain dealt with nicely by the driving force who will debut for Mercedes on the Australian Grand Prix on March 16, getting into the cockpit vacated by Hamilton, a seven-time world champion 21 years Antonelli’s senior.
Antonelli is aware of he can not count on to emulate Hamilton’s 12-year run at Mercedes, which yielded six world championships and 84 race wins to turn into probably the most profitable driver-team partnership in F1 historical past. However he’s taking in all of the help he can forward of his debut season.
“I’m the subsequent Mercedes driver and I’m taking the seat of somebody who made historical past within the sport, so it’s an enormous privilege,” Antonelli informed The Athletic in an interview. “It’s an enormous accountability, however I’ve acquired the precise folks round me.”
Automobiles have at all times been a central a part of Antonelli’s life.
His father, Marco, watched how younger Kimi performed with toy vehicles and determined to take him go-karting at 5.
Kimi immediately fell in love with the feeling of velocity. (Antonelli goes by his center title, which has no connection to the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.) But Marco, who nonetheless races in sportscars together with his personal GT crew, Antonelli Motorsport, which competes throughout Europe, was initially cautious of pursuing it too critically. He didn’t need Kimi to get damage in what could be a ruthless world.
“Generally motorsport might be merciless,” Antonelli mentioned. “He was afraid that I might have been too damage from disappointment, so he needed to keep away from that. However seeing that I actually liked driving and actually liked the game, he determined to offer it a go. He may see, with out me actually telling him, that I had the fervour for motorsport.”
That love was furthered by father-and-son Sundays spent watching F1 races collectively. Whereas Antonelli would have grown up watching Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, his racing heroes are from a lot additional again. His dad confirmed him the well-known race between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979, regarded by many as the best on-track battle of all time, which gave him an appreciation of the game’s historical past from a younger age.
“It was simply wonderful,” Antonelli mentioned. “You see how totally different it was, in comparison with now, the protection, the vehicles. You additionally admire the best way the drivers had been nonetheless battling on monitor regardless of realizing that the vehicles weren’t as protected as immediately. They had been nonetheless going for it and you actually admire seeing these battles.”
Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna emerged as Antonelli’s favourite drivers, partly due to their tenacious type on the monitor. “Ayrton is my hero, however Villeneuve, now I perceive why my dad was such an enormous fan of him,” Antonelli mentioned. “He was a lion on the monitor.”
After first utilizing 12 as his racing quantity in Method 4, Antonelli selected it for his F1 debut season as a nod to Senna, who raced with 12 by way of the primary 4 years of his profession, together with his first championship season in 1988. By coincidence, Villeneuve additionally raced with 12 in 1978 and 1979.
Whereas the historical past classes Antonelli acquired as a baby furthered his ardour off the monitor, on the monitor, he shortly excelled, rising up the go-karting ladder. His progress put him on the radar of high expertise scouts, amongst whom was Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes’ junior guru. This led to Antonelli assembly Mercedes crew principal Toto Wolff at age 11 earlier than signing to its younger driver program at 13.
It was Antonelli’s character in addition to his capacity that impressed Wolff. By the point he stepped as much as single-seaters and continued profitable the whole lot he laid his arms upon, together with each the Italian and German F4 titles in his first 12 months earlier than the Method Regional title in 2023, it was clear {the teenager} had the makings of one thing particular. In the long run, a spot sooner or later Mercedes F1 lineup alongside George Russell has at all times been within the thoughts of the crew’s administration. It was only a matter of timing.
When Hamilton, who many anticipated would finish his profession at Mercedes, revealed final January that he could be leaving for Ferrari in 2025, it took Wolff 5 minutes to resolve Antonelli, then simply 17, could be the person to interchange him.
“Now we have an amazing relationship, not solely professionally, but additionally outdoors of the monitor,” Antonelli mentioned of Wolff. “He’s an amazing man, actually supportive throughout nice moments but additionally throughout tough moments. I’m tremendous glad to be with him. He’s been giving me numerous assist.”
Wolff has even entrusted Antonelli with instructing his six-year-old son, Jack, methods to go-kart. “He’s not unhealthy, he’s been bettering quite a bit,” Antonelli mentioned. “Each take a look at, he was getting higher and higher. It was good to see.”
Antonelli leaves his automobile after crashing throughout his first apply session, forward of the Italian Grand Prix in 2024 (Gabriel Bouys / AFP through Getty Pictures)
The one factor each Wolff and Mercedes have been desperate to keep away from is placing an excessive amount of strain or expectation on Antonelli. A crash simply minutes into his first F1 apply outing at Monza, sooner or later earlier than he was introduced within the 2025 seat, was dismissed as a part of the educational curve. Mercedes doesn’t count on an 18-year-old to copy what Hamilton achieved.
Debuting for such a high-profile crew at such a younger age is uncommon in F1. Usually, younger drivers will get their first alternative additional down the grid to study the ropes and make a reputation for themselves earlier than proving they’re prepared for a high seat. Russell spent three years at Williams earlier than getting the Mercedes drive. Crimson Bull initially positioned Verstappen at its sister crew, Toro Rosso, earlier than selling him throughout his second season.
The one nice, profitable exception to the rule in current F1 historical past is the person Antonelli will substitute: Hamilton. He was given a McLaren seat for his debut season in 2007 and got here inside one level of profitable the championship as a rookie. It’s an impossibly excessive bar, one there is no such thing as a expectation for Antonelli to fulfill.
Antonelli’s youth meant his step as much as F1 required an additional diploma of preparation. Alongside his Method Two racing commitments final 12 months, he performed an in depth quantity (just below 20 days) of personal testing in previous vehicles, together with his tempo impressing the engineering crew. Antonelli was additionally in a position to embed himself with the Mercedes engineering crew at races by way of the second half of the season, attending to know the voices and faces he’ll lean upon by way of 2025.
Antonelli feels a accountability not solely towards Mercedes but additionally towards his native Italy. Whereas the nation has a wealthy, unparalleled historical past in motorsport, with Ferrari turning into a de facto nationwide crew, it has not produced a world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 nor a grand prix winner since Giancarlo Fisichella’s final success in 2006 with Renault.
“There’s much more hype round, after all, heading into subsequent season,” Antonelli mentioned. “Undoubtedly, you are feeling a little bit of accountability as a result of you realize you’ve acquired Italy behind you. Everybody expects me to achieve success, particularly as a result of I’ll be racing a Mercedes.
“Nevertheless it’s additionally actually thrilling. I can not look forward to subsequent 12 months to get began and likewise I can not look forward to my dwelling race at Imola. I might like to see so many Italians cheering.” The swathes of pink for Ferrari that sometimes cowl the grandstands at Imola could be interspersed with Mercedes’ silver and black this 12 months.
At Imola, Monza and past, the adjustment to fame can be arduous for Antonelli to really put together for till it occurs. He’s already getting acknowledged much more. Followers stopped him each few steps as he walked by way of Milan Malpensa airport final 12 months off his flight from Heathrow; Antonelli graciously paused for selfies every time. He admitted it felt “a bit unusual” to start with, however he is aware of it’s a part of the job. “Whenever you get used to it, it’s regular.”
Antonelli, 18, and Bearman, 19, will be part of the F1 grid this 12 months. (Joe Portlock / Getty Pictures)
Regular in F1, sure, however Antonelli remains to be a youngster — a part of F1’s new wave of expertise that has remodeled the look and dramatically lowered the typical age of the grid for 2025. Away from racing, he enjoys taking part in padel (the pastime of selection for a lot of the grid) and has already loved some spirited matches together with his new teammate, Russell. However he additionally likes to maintain sharp by go-karting and even doing sim racing together with his mates.
An endearing factor of Antonelli’s rise final 12 months was his friendship together with his F2 teammate Ollie Bearman, who can even graduate to F1 this 12 months with Haas. Each racing for Prema, they made a number of enjoyable social media movies collectively and struck up relationship away from the monitor. It’s one thing Antonelli hopes might be of assist to them each as they make the leap to F1.
“He’s an amazing man, he’s fast,” Antonelli mentioned of Bearman. “I’ve discovered so much from him. I’m glad to be sharing the grid with him subsequent 12 months. As a result of we’re going to be new subsequent 12 months, particularly at first, simply the actual fact we’ve recognized one another and we’ve been racing collectively, it is going to assist.”
In the case of dealing with the leap as much as F1, Antonelli will look to all of the help he can get. Whereas he can be considered one of six full-season rookies on the F1 grid this 12 months, he and Crimson Bull’s Liam Lawson, who already has 11 races to his title, are probably to attract probably the most consideration for the actual fact they’re with front-running groups that received races final 12 months.
It makes the preparations for Antonelli all of the extra necessary. Mercedes will begin 2025 looking for the consistency it lacked for a lot of final 12 months. Russell will morph into the function of crew chief following Hamilton’s departure, however for Antonelli, it’s all about getting the fundamentals proper and never letting the event over-awe him. “It’s going to be an enormous season forward,” Antonelli mentioned.
Now, together with his driver’s license, F1’s youngest driver is prepared for something.
(High picture: Clive Rose/Getty Pictures)