Mercedes’ rookie Formulation 1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli rejects the concept he’s a alternative on the group for Lewis Hamilton.
The 18-year-old Italian is actually that – Mercedes selected Antonelli to make his debut this season after the seven-time champion knowledgeable them of his need to maneuver to Ferrari for 2025 earlier than final season had even began.
However Antonelli’s level is that he needs to make his personal mark in F1.
“I do not really feel like his alternative,” Antonelli advised BBC Sport. “I simply really feel like a Mercedes F1 driver.
“But it surely’s such an amazing alternative. I’m actually grateful for the belief and alternative Mercedes gave me. However on the similar time, it’s a huge duty as nicely, as a result of I’m racing for Mercedes, high group, and they also’ve bought some expectations as nicely, in fact. I’m simply going to attempt to make the most effective out of this.”
Moving into the automotive vacated by essentially the most profitable F1 driver of all time, for a record-breaking group, seems daunting on paper. No stress, as they could say.
However to date Antonelli appears to be taking it in his stride. He’s, as his team-mate George Russell says, remarkably mature for an 18-year-old.
“I actually need to begin with a pleasant rhythm and construct from there and be constant,” he says. “And what I do not need to do is, like, huge mistake. As a result of while you do a giant mistake, you do just a few steps again after which to get better it takes somewhat time.”
Antonelli is a reputation that has been doing the rounds in F1 for some time. He has for a while been thought to be one of the vital prodigious skills in motorsport.
He joined Mercedes’ youth programme on the age of 11 and was promoted to F1 after only one season in Formulation 2.
Individuals who have labored with him have spoken in awed tones concerning the stage of his expertise, about how he may very well be the following huge factor.
As such, the expectation was that he would make it to F1 earlier than too lengthy. However even he has been stunned by how rapidly he has been parachuted right into a high group.
“When you had requested me this 4 years in the past, I’d have mentioned, ‘that is loopy, not taking place’,” he says. “Perhaps a bit later. When you assume, not even 4 years in the past, three and a half years in the past, I used to be nonetheless in karting. After all F1 was all the time my huge dream however I would not have imagined I’d get right here so rapidly however I’m super-happy and it’s a dream come true.”
Is it Andrea? Or Kimi?
His promotion is a consequence of Hamilton’s determination to go away Mercedes, which compelled the hand of group principal Toto Wolff.
Wolff may nonetheless have farmed Antonelli out to a different group to achieve expertise for a few years, as he did with Russell at Williams from 2019-21.
Ultimately, Wolff most popular to easily throw Antonelli in on the deep finish, put together him nicely with 1000’s of kilometres of testing in previous automobiles, and belief his expertise.
Wolff has mentioned he expects errors, and that it’s Mercedes’ job to assist Antonelli develop. And the driving force – who crashed closely on his second flying lap when given an outing in follow ultimately yr’s Italian Grand Prix – is conscious of the duty.
“I need to have a clear run, good rhythm, constant,” he says. “However the mindset goes to be the identical, happening observe and attempt to win, attempt to be as quick as attainable, attempt to get as greatest consequence as attainable.”
Antonelli’s expertise shouldn’t be the one motive he has stood out. There may be additionally his identify.
He’s recognized universally in F1 as “Kimi”, most likely as a result of his center identify carries clearly heavy resonance.
However though there may be motorsport within the household – father Marco is a sports activities automotive racer – Antonelli says he was not named after Finnish 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
“Mainly, my dad and mom wished to provide me a second identify that might match nicely with the primary identify and the surname, however they did not desire a second Italian identify,” he says. “They wished one thing different.
“A extremely good good friend of ours, his identify is Enrico Bertaggia, he has a background of racing. (Bertaggia was entered in eight grands prix for back-of-the-grid groups between 1989-92). He determined to call me Kimi. My dad and mom mentioned: ‘Yeah, it sounds nice.’ And so I bought named.”
Antonelli says he understands why everybody calls him Kimi, quite than his precise first identify.
“It’s extra pure,” he says. “It’s good and quick. Particularly on this planet of racing, it’s such an iconic identify.
“My greatest associates, my shut associates, all of them name me Andrea. Additionally my household.”
Remarkably, Antonelli was born 5 years after Fernando Alonso made his debut in F1 in 2001, and the 2 can be on the identical grid as one another this yr.
Antonelli says it’s “a privilege” to share the F1 grid with drivers equivalent to Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
And there are different historic resonances about Antonelli. He says his hero rising up was three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, and coincidentally there’s something of the legendary Brazilian in Antonelli’s seems.
“Yeah, (individuals) advised me that,” he says. “I do not actually like being in contrast as a result of I feel each individual has his personal character however he’s my idol, he’s my reference, so it will be cool simply to realize even little a part of what he achieved in his entire profession.”
