I’m not afraid of being judged

His 2025 Formula 1 debut with Mercedes isn’t even definitively decided or announced yet, but few drivers would be arriving on the big stage with the plaudits or the weight of expectation as Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Celebrating his 18th birthday on the Sunday of the Dutch Grand Prix later this month, Antonelli has had nothing but a meteoric rise, having vaulted directly from Formula Regional into an F2 seat, all while being groomed to be the heir of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli had long been earmarked as Hamilton’s successor, but the Briton’s shock departure to Ferrari caught Mercedes chief Toto Wolff by surprise and has meant the squad has had to accelerate the Italian phenom’s development programme.

It takes a strong pair of shoulders and a good support system to cope with that rapid ascension. But while life is moving pretty fast for the 17-year-old, he hasn’t forgotten to stop and look around once in a while and appreciate the journey he is on.

In his first wide-ranging interview, Antonelli tells Motorsport.com he is not taking anything for granted, nor is he afraid of being judged on the biggest stage.

“Some degree of worry I think is always there, the prospect of not being able to perform I think frightens everyone,” Antonelli says about the prospect of becoming an F1 rookie. “My approach is to see it as a great opportunity to learn, grow and also enjoy the moment.

“I’m not afraid of being judged, I know Mercedes has a clear opinion about my potential, already this season in F2 the championship didn’t kick off in the best way but there were no negative thoughts.

“I am quite calm, if the opportunity presented itself to me I would take it with eagerness and try to make the most of it.

“Recently there has been some pressure on me with all the rumours about next year, but I have always tried to enjoy it. I’m enjoying the opportunities I have.”

Despite an atypically tough start for single-seater powerhouse Prema, Antonelli’s maiden F2 campaign has so far yielded two wins, heading into the summer break seventh in the standings. His team-mate, future Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman, is down in 15th after an equally rocky start which included sitting out the Saudi Arabia round to deputise for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12

But while F2 is a good enough school to hone racecraft and learn coping with the pressure of competition, what Mercedes is judging Antonelli’s progress on most is private testing with two-year-old machinery, which has been an eye-popping experience.

“During pre-season testing in Bahrain I was told the dates and at that point I said to myself, ‘Well, you’re really going to drive an F1 car!’ It was a very, very special moment, because there was a day and a track, in black on white,” he recounts.

His first two-day test took place in April at the Red Bull Ring, driving the 2021 Mercedes W12 that last yielded the Silver Arrows a constructors’ title. In later tests at Imola and Silverstone he moved to the 2022-spec W13, which as a ground-effect car is much more similar to the current generation but also more difficult and unpredictable to drive; just ask Hamilton or George Russell.

“It was a really great experience,” Antonelli said about his maiden F1 outing. “I carried that excitement with me through the first lap too, even if the conditions were not the best, it was raining and in the afternoon it even snowed!

“Then on the second day the track improved and in the dry the performance emerged; power, deceleration, aerodynamic load. It was crazy.

“When I arrived at the track I just opened the door of the garage and was shocked to see how many people were there, both engineers and mechanics, all to run a single car.

“And you have to be able to answer and provide a lot of information when they ask you questions. It took me a while to get used to it, but now everything already seems normal to me.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes testing at Imola

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Ripping around the world’s greatest circuits in a Formula 1 car is one thing. But finding the limit in a machine that appears to provide a bottomless pit of grip and performance is a different matter, which dawned on Antonelli as he scurried through Silverstone’s fast swoops of Copse, Maggots and Becketts.

“Unbelievable,” he chuckes. “You think it’s not possible, then when you try it and see that the car stays in it, you say…man, there’s still a margin!

“An F1 car gives you a lot of confidence, and one difficulty I ran into was finding the limit. Every time I ask for a bit more, the car gives it to me. The moment will come when I will understand that there is nothing more to squeeze out, that will be the limit, but it is a very narrow window.

“I am aware that the margin for error is very thin. But the more the confidence with the car grows, the more comfortable I feel.”

“I didn’t plan on coming to F2 and winning everything”

At Mercedes, Antonelli has had to drink from a firehose of information, but that ability had already been put to the test after his leap from Formula Regional to F2, skipping F3 in the process. It is reminiscent of Max Verstappen’s rise, bypassing F2 after Red Bull offered him a straight promotion from F3 into a Toro Rosso seat to become F1’s youngest-ever driver and subsequently race winner.

Given his relative lack of experience in cars, Antonelli says he was never taking F2 success for granted like some observers did.

“No, because I never expected to go straight into F2,” he says. “When they informed me that this was the plan, I thought it would be a big jump, because you usually go to F3 first, but at the same time the challenge was immediately appealing to me.

“I didn’t plan on coming to F2 and winning everything, I was always aware that the jump from Formula Regional would be very challenging and I was aware that I had a lot to learn, which I am still doing.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

“I am also very happy with the relationship I have [with Wolff]. In difficult moments I ask him for advice and he always looks for a way to give me confidence.

“I’ll give you an example. After the disappointing qualifying in Silverstone I called him because it was a bit of a tough time. We talked a lot and that conversation gave me back my confidence, and the next day I won and it was really nice to see him under the podium.

“When you go through difficult times, I think you come out stronger in the end, also in terms of attitude. Silverstone and Budapest confirmed it.”

But as much as Wolff is backing Antonelli to be his man for the future and the Italian is keen for his big opportunity, he refuses to get ahead of himself. Dreams are exactly that until they become a reality.

“I’m very happy to be considered, but I’m not asking for anything,” he stressed. “At the moment my goal is to do well in Formula 2, then we’ll see.

“I still see it as a dream. Yes, I did happen to think about it, but it is a passing thought.

“In all honesty I can tell you that for me today it is still a dream. We’ll see if it comes true.”