Montoya: “Mercedes already has serious problems with Antonelli”
Formula 1 will see many rookies take part in their first full seasons in 2025.
At this stage, four new drivers have been confirmed for next season, with Oliver Bearman even having completed too many races at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi to be considered a rookie before starting his first full season with Haas.
Even Jack Doohan’s future at Alpine, where he will replace Esteban Ocon without having even competed in an F1 race, looks uncertain.
Gabriel Bortoleto, who aims to win the Formula 2 championship, left McLaren’s development programme to join Sauber.
However, of all the rookies confirmed for next season on the grid, arguably the biggest and most exciting name is Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025, filling the biggest void in the sport’s history.
That comes with incredible pressure and speaking to W Radio’s YouTube channel, former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya expressed his concerns for the young Italian.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff knows how important it is to give Antonelli the opportunity to make mistakes, but for a team like Mercedes, which is chasing race wins, the adjustment period cannot take long.
Speaking about Antonelli, Montoya said: “Antonelli has the speed to be in Formula 1, he has the talent to be in Formula 1.”
“The question is whether he’s prepared well enough. He’s done millions of laps compared to anyone else who’s going to race next year, apart from Formula One.”
“The preparation they do against the other drivers in F2, the preparation they do with the old F1 cars of Mercedes, going to all the circuits two weeks, three weeks before every race… He is very prepared for every race, every circuit.”
“For me, the fact that he was slow in Mexico and what happened in Monza last time… I would say that is a serious problem.”
“In Italy he went out and tried to break the lap record on the first lap and destroyed the car. In Mexico he drove slowly to save the car.”
“So they criticize him for crashing and they criticize him for driving slowly, and that’s the truth of it.”
“You have to learn how hard you can push and understand that balance.”
Kimi Antonelli has impressed in Mercedes’ behind-closed-doors testing but has failed to deliver the results he wanted in practice.
Antonelli impressed the team in his first drives in Mercedes’ F1 cars, which played a big role in his promotion. His first Formula 2 season was good but not exceptional, with Antonelli having to settle for one sprint race and one main race win.
Unfortunately, Antonelli’s practice laps with Mercedes didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped. He had a major crash in front of his home crowd on his first lap in Monza, which he struggled with. The Italian was reaching speeds that even Hamilton couldn’t match as he entered the Parabolica, and it was no surprise that he hit the barriers.
Peter Windsor noticed something unusual about Antonelli’s Mexico practice session and, as Montoya suggested, the Italian may have been driving below his limits to avoid causing further damage to the car.
It will be a matter of great curiosity how Antonelli will cope with the pressure of racing at Mercedes and whether he can display the talent the team sees in him.
