Mercedes has always known that they had a truly promising young man on their hands, a pure talent. A driver that can be cultivated and grown like Red Bull did with Max Verstappen, then waiting for the revelation. Mercedes thought a lot about the possibility of giving Andrea Kimi Antonelli a seat as early as 2025. Toto Wolff was the first to see the potential in him to become a top driver, capable of leading the team to victory. However, it didn't take long for Kimi to convince the rest of the team with his driving skills. And we're not talking about results in F2, but about those on board an F1. In fact, Mercedes wanted to put him to the test immediately in private tests on board the single-seaters of previous years. The test results, in particular at Silverstone where Antonelli competed with Russell and Mick Schumacher with the 13 W2022 they surprised everyone, so much so that they convinced the 15 members about the future pair of drivers for 2025. We would therefore only be waiting for the official announcement.
Mercedes towards the Antonelli – Russell couple
Even before Hamilton's announcement at Ferrari, Mercedes knew they had to quickly find an alternative for that seat. It is no coincidence that Antonelli was allowed to skip F3, moving directly to F2. However, Lewis' early departure forced the team to move quickly to find a replacement soon. The drivers' market offers many opportunities this year, but Mercedes immediately had to deal with a difficult car. The idea of debut of Antonelli in Mercedes as early as 2025 has perhaps started to become increasingly concrete as a function of this lack of competitiveness. Shall we keep him another year in F2 to gain "experience", for how much can he count with inferior cars? Shall we send him to Williams to train him? Or do we let him do his apprenticeship alongside Russell since we're not even fighting for the podium at the moment? Mercedes seems to have preferred the third to these options, based above all on the tests carried out with the 13 W2022.
According to what the Corriere dello Sport, of the three drivers who took turns in the test, namely George Russell, Antonelli and Mick Schumacher, the Italian would have fared better, also convincing the rest of the team. “The three drivers drove a 13 Mercedes W2022 and took turns following an identical work program – we read in the Italian newspaper – Antonelli went as fast as Russell in qualifying setup (little petrol and soft tyres) e slightly better than him on race pace. Russell tried to extend his stay on the track to prevent the Bolognese from returning to the wheel. In vain." This would have convinced the team to focus on the young Italian talent for the next seasons.
The comparison with George Russell has in fact given a significant measure to evaluate a possible couple formed by Kimi Antonelli and the Englishman from 2025. A pair that Mercedes will use to get to the point of returning to fighting for the world championship, perhaps already in 2026 with the new engine regulations.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
