Antonelli reveals ‘shock’ of first F1 drive

Mercedes protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli has reflected on his first F1 test earlier this year and the “shock” he felt during the outing.

The Italian first got behind the wheel of an F1 car at the Red Bull Ring as part of a two-day test with Mercedes.

It came as he began to be linked with a full-time drive at the Brackley-based squad for 2025 following Lewis Hamilton’s bombshell decision to leave for Ferrari.

Antonelli has since had several more F1 tests as he completes his rookie campaign in Formula 2 and is now the favourite to step in alongside George Russell at Mercedes next year.

Taking part in his first F1 outing at just 17 years of age in April, Antonelli offered an insight into what occurred.

“It was a really great experience,” Antonelli told Autosport. 

“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.”

Antonelli shocked at size of F1 teams

Antonelli has been part of Mercedes’ F1 programme since 2019, stepping into single-seater racing in 2021.

His promotion to F2 came after he won the Formula Regional European Championship last year.

With F1 teams having a much larger set-up compared to teams in junior formulae, Antonelli admitted it was a surprise to see so many personnel working on the car.

“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.”