There are still about five months left until the first race of the 2025 championship, which will see the debut of Andrea Kimi Antonelli on a Formula 1 single-seater as an official driver. A date that represents both the conclusion of a journey, the one in the preparatory categories, and the beginning of a bigger adventure, the one in the top flight, where the hope is that the potential will emerge to continue the streak of successes seen in the series minors.
A debut that still seems rather distant in terms of time, especially considering that there are still two F2 events to compete before definitively focusing on what the next adventure will be, but which in reality is starting to approach rapidly. Behind the scenes, in fact, the Italian is already preparing for what will be his first season in F1, through a test program organized by Mercedes which, in recent months, has led him to test various cars.
A job aimed at arriving as ready as possible precisely for that Australian GP where the first part of the dream will become reality: “Being an official driver next year is something I haven’t achieved yet. I’m slowly realizing it, but I think I’ll only realize it when I’m on the grid in Melbourne. But I’m very happy, it’s a dream come true”, commented Antonelli on the sidelines of the Sports Festival organized in Trento by the Gazzetta dello Sport.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli gets on the Mercedes for the FP1 in Monza: from 2025 he will be an official driver.
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“I feel ready for F1. In terms of speed I think it won’t be a problem and the only thing where there will be a lot of work to do will be understanding how to manage the weekend in the best possible way and also learning all the procedures. So, there will be many things to learn but I feel ready.”
The new season hasn’t started yet, but the Italian driver has already set the first objectives for what will be his first year in Formula 1, without hiding, with the announced target of trying to get on the podium and win some races. An objective which, net of the clear considerations on the fact that the first year will still be an apprenticeship in a category that is completely new to him, suggests that the boy already has clear ideas, showing off his desire to win.
“Winning a few races would certainly be a dream. It won’t be easy, because all the teams have a competitive car, so it will be very difficult, but this is my first objective. Even a few podiums would be good, but the main objective is to bring home some victories,” explained Antonelli.
Not just the results: what convinced Mercedes on a human level
The Italian will make his debut in the top series directly in a top team like Mercedes, without going through an intermediate stage, like a mid-group team: a bet for the Anglo-German team, but also a certificate of trust in a driver who quickly rose through the ranks in the preparatory categories.
Kimi Antonelli studies the data with Mercedes engineers in tests
Photo credit: Mercedes AMG
In fact, for several years Antonelli has been part of the Mercedes Academy which, thus, has been able to follow his youthful path, including successes in Formula 4 and Formula Regional, where he showed a speed that pushed the team to take him directly to Formula 2 and then in Formula 1 after a year. Undoubtedly Lewis Hamilton’s farewell has brought the planets into alignment but, as explained by Toto Wolff, the team has always had in the Italian one of the main candidates to take up the Briton’s legacy.
When asked what, from his point of view, had convinced Mercedes to focus on him for 2025, Antonelli said that, in addition to the results on the track, a crucial element for progressing towards F1, a role was also played the way he presents himself: “I certainly convinced Mercedes for the results on the track, because in the end those are the most important thing. But also because Toto also spoke a lot to my family and the person I have become. This is also thanks to my family, because they are the ones who educated me in this way and therefore I believe that an additional factor is also the person I am.”
The importance of testing in the growth path
However, naturally this is not the only reason that pushed the team to focus on the Italian, because Mercedes is above all looking for a driver who is fast, as he demonstrated in the various preparatory categories. To understand his level, however, it was also useful to observe him in action during the private tests carried out during the season, a fundamental tool for understanding his strengths and the rough edges still to be smoothed out.
According to Antonelli, what surprised Mercedes was the speed with which the young driver was able to get to the limit in a Formula 1 car despite his lack of experience. The recent debuts of drivers from the minor series have demonstrated how competitive the new recruits can be, but it is clear that experience on the track becomes fundamental to get a complete idea and understand the progress.
Antonelli’s first test in an F1 car at the Red Bull Ring
Photo credit: Mercedes AMG
In fact, over the course of the various test sessions, Antonelli made some progress not only in terms of finding the car’s limits, but also on the topic that generally puts rookies in the most difficulty, i.e. race pace and management. of tires. For a driver who until last season didn’t even have to deal with the use of two different compounds in races, it is logical that the issue of race management is one where there is room for growth, already highlighted in Spa.
“In the private tests, one thing that impressed them was the speed with which I reached the limit, the speed with which I reached the times they set. I have to say that one factor I struggled with the most during the tests was the race pace. However, in the last two days of testing in Spa, I significantly improved my race pace and this convinced them to sign with me”, said Antonelli, underlining how important that test was.
“Up until that point their idea was to put me in a Mercedes car in 2025, but first they wanted to see if I would be able to improve those weak points I had. In the Spa tests he made a good step forward and that convinced them. In fact, before the summer break, I made a call with Wolff, my engineer and other people from Mercedes and there they told me that I would be their driver in 2025. It was a great moment.”
The growth in the tests was parallel on several fronts: on the one hand understanding how to better exploit the car and get ever closer to the limit, on the other also learning to understand and use the team’s indications to improve, both in defining the setup, than in real time over a weekend.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli in one of the TPC tests with the Mercedes W13
Photo by: Davide Cavazza
“I believe that you learn many things with experience and in Formula 1 you have a lot of data that you can look at, even live telemetry, so the engineer can tell you in real time where to improve. Already in the next lap you can apply what the engineer says and improve yourself. In general, with these tests they tried to let me do more on my own, so try to learn independently without giving me too many guidelines. In the Spa test, where I took a step forward was in feeling the tyre, anticipating degradation and maintaining the pace, fundamental aspects in the race.”
The relationship with Hamilton and driving preferences
Antonelli will inherit the seat of Lewis Hamilton, who will fly towards Maranello to chase the title in Ferrari. A heavy legacy, but Antonelli has already had the opportunity to know and work with the Briton who, among other things, has spent sweet words on the young Italian on several occasions, precisely because in recent years he has seen his potential.
“I have a good relationship with Lewis. He happens to talk to us on race weekends and I have to say that he is a great person, very humble. For example, in Singapore I learned from him how he manages the race, the information he gives to the team on the condition of the car and the tyres. I can’t wait to get back on track to continue observing and learning, in order to be ready for next year”, said Antonelli, who then also talked about some aspects of his driving style which, among other, coincide precisely with that of Hamilton, including the preference for a pointed front.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“I observed his driving style, which is similar to mine. He’s a driver who likes to drive a car with a lot of focus on the front, so he doesn’t like having an understeering car and that’s something I like too.”
A lot of work on the procedures, between the steering wheel and departures
If in the preparatory categories Antonelli has always been a driver accustomed to speaking little via radio, so as to be able to concentrate on driving, in F1 communications will be more intense, especially from the pits, with the engineers providing him with continuous updates not only for improve performance, but also manage the car.
One of the key aspects will also be to learn all the procedures and customize the steering wheel to make it as comfortable as possible. A topic that may seem underestimated, but which actually takes on crucial importance for a driver who, on board the single-seater, must remember the positioning of all the various buttons and “rotaries” to modify the braking distribution, the balance and all those other elements that affect performance.
“It will also be important to learn not to lose concentration when someone talks to you from the pits, because they do it to give you useful information. In the tests they are talking to me more and more, because in F1 it is essential to learn the procedures, so when they ask you to make a change you have to know which button to touch on the steering wheel and what it does. These are all things that I’m learning and getting used to, which is why I’m also doing the tests, not only to improve in terms of driving, but also to learn the procedures and get used to having a person on the radio who constantly talks to you ”.
Mercedes steering wheel
Photo by: Erik Junius
Antonelli then also revealed a curiosity, namely that Mercedes will send him home a simulator with which to learn how to make starts. In fact, for a few years now, starts in F1 have no longer been assisted, so drivers have to learn to find the right sensitivity when releasing the clutch. In this way, not only will the Italian be able to gain experience with dedicated software, but also find the first indications to give to the engineers, for example, on his preferences in managing the lever, as well as on the case in which to insert his fingers.
“Mercedes will send me this steering wheel and a small simulator at home to learn starts so I can practice doing starts. The steering wheel is the Formula 1 one, so it will also help me memorize the buttons, because at high speeds you don’t have time to look at the steering wheel, you have to know it by heart. So they will send me this simulator not only to learn how to do the starts, but also to memorize the buttons.”
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