OK, the headline is likely to be a bit of untimely given Kimi Antonelli continues to be solely 19 years outdated, however the actual fact he’s solely 19 years outdated and capable of produce performances like those over the previous few days at Interlagos is outstanding.
The hype round Antonelli was enormous even earlier than he obtained near Components 1, not to mention when Mercedes then put him in for an FP1 session simply after his 18th birthday at Monza and Toto Wolff began waxing lyrical about his gorgeous velocity over 90 % of a flying lap, till the Italian crashed at Parabolica.
A day later, he was confirmed as one of many crew’s race drivers for 2025, and the thrill went up one other stage, however so did the priority that it would simply be a bit of bit an excessive amount of too quickly. Not that anybody doubted Antonelli’s expertise, however whether or not he can be higher off spending one other yr in F2 honing his craft and gaining expertise earlier than making the step up, or no less than creating at one other crew away from the front-running highlight. Given Wolff described Antonelli’s most up-to-date efficiency at Monza as “underwhelming,” it wasn’t that way back that you could possibly have nonetheless raised comparable questions. Since then the Italian has demonstrated a step ahead that maybe would solely have been attainable by being a part of the Mercedes lineup.
Higher performances in Baku and Singapore had been encouraging, as was a sixth place forward of George Russell in Mexico Metropolis, but it surely was the way in which he put every part collectively for a whole Dash weekend in Brazil that caught the attention.
Second to Lando Norris in each single session that mattered, Antonelli was the Mercedes chief over the previous three days.
“I feel all weekend he was robust from the get-go. It is good to see,” crew principal Wolff stated. “Perhaps it was coming to a monitor that he did not know, it is a bit simpler. Expectations are possibly decrease. Perhaps strain is just not as excessive as a few of the Europeans after which the execution was faultless on the finish.
“With the ability to fend off Max (Verstappen) on a more recent and softer tire, that was actually robust and testomony to what’s to come back.
“I feel it is also managing his personal expectations. He is so younger. He is simply 19 years outdated. You come to a monitor the place you understand that you’ve got carried out very properly up to now – a few of the European ones – and you then’re on the again foot…
“You’ve a sensational teammate who’s nearly as good because it will get. I feel coming to a monitor that you do not know is nearly like much less strain. Your expectations are decrease, all people else’s expectations are decrease, the sort of fan strain is lower than a few of the European tracks. I feel that performs a giant function.
“It is a improvement. Subsequent yr he’ll come to those tracks that he is aware of, with out anticipating to kill it. That is the educational yr, the yr that we at all times anticipated to come back, with all of the ups and downs.
“Right this moment is an up, undoubtedly a great second. There will likely be harder ones, however let’s have a look at the following few races. I feel we’re seeing the younger boy changing into a younger man and performing.”
Brazil was a complete package deal for the Italian teen, minus what’s clearly an imminent win. Mark Thompson/Getty Photographs
For Antonelli himself, it’s a weekend that provides him a whole lot of confidence, displaying that he cannot solely show potential, however ship on that potential with a whole weekend.
“I’ve had a great run to date, a few robust races,” Antonelli stated. “This weekend was the weekend the place we put issues extra collectively, which is what I have to do, particularly for the crew. I have been having fun with this weekend quite a bit and searching ahead to the following ones.”
One second in Antonelli’s race that possibly wasn’t superb: the beginning and restart. He needed to defend on each events and was hit by Oscar Piastri on the protection automotive resumption when going three-wide with Charles Leclerc. Piastri was penalized, however Antonelli admits he was on the again foot into the nook and fortunate to proceed.
“I accelerated a bit of bit on the moist patch, so I obtained wheel spin and misplaced momentum going into Flip 1,” the rookie stated. “To be honest, I discovered myself in a really troublesome place as a result of I had one automotive on the skin and one automotive on the within.
“I attempted to brake late, not too late. The issue is I did not see the automotive subsequent to me anymore. I nonetheless tried to do a good line for the place I used to be in, and ended up getting hit. I used to be fortunate to come back away from that, as a result of clearly I hit Charles fairly exhausting.
“Sadly, I ended his race, however on my aspect, I used to be fortunate to come back away with not such massive injury. I had minor injury on the automotive – I feel the steering wheel was not absolutely straight – however I used to be very fortunate to come back away with it and to have the ability to proceed my race.”
The efficiency from that time on was spectacular sufficient, however as Wolff alluded to, the place Antonelli confirmed much more purpose to be enthusiastic about his potential was when underneath immense strain from Verstappen within the closing laps.
“[It was] method too annoying,” he stated. “When Max did the final pit cease and Bono (race engineer Peter Bonnington) instructed me the hole, I used to be like, ‘I is likely to be in bother,’ as a result of he was simply 9 seconds behind. Clearly, he was on new softs.
“This race he had very robust tempo. He did an incredible job coming again and he simply put me underneath a whole lot of strain on the finish. I needed to actually push the tire to the restrict and it wasn’t straightforward, however I feel we did our greatest and I am actually pleased with that.
“I discovered my rhythm. Clearly, when he was closing in, I raised the tempo, I began to push a bit extra. I discovered my rhythm. With this automotive, with soiled air, it is a bit troublesome to observe, so I attempted to make use of that to my benefit and it paid off.”
Mercedes may even level to its dedication to Antonelli’s rookie yr as paying off too, as a result of if it has a championship-contending automotive in 2026, he’s beginning to present the indicators that he’ll be capable to be a part of Russell in profitable races with regularity.
