Why Antonelli’s error-filled F1 debut season is exactly what he needs

Given his tender age, his rapid rise through the ranks and his immediate promotion to a top team like Mercedes, there was plenty of anticipation around Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s F1 debut this year.

Mercedes’ hand was perhaps forced by Lewis Hamilton’s earlier than expected departure, but it still decided to press ahead and promote its homegrown talent after a generous private testing programme twinned with an F2 campaign, with Antonelli having flown through the junior ranks before that.

The now 19-year-old got off to a good start with fourth in a tricky mixed weather Melbourne race, and he took a shock sprint pole in Miami, but his season started going downhill over the European triple-header in May.

At Imola he was clearly overwhelmed by the attention on his home debut. Coinciding with that, Mercedes introduced a new rear suspension which made the car much harder to drive and which totally sapped Antonelli’s confidence in the car.

The issue didn’t prevent him from grabbing a maiden podium in Canada, but that proved a rare highlight as he has only scored one point more since Miami – which happened to be the only time he outqualified high-flying George Russell.

Mercedes’ car changes certainly hindered Antonelli as he aimed to build up momentum and confidence in the W16, and as the team reverted to its original suspension the Italian started picking up the pace again, but it is confidence that is likely to be undone by going off in FP1 in Zandvoort before taking out Charles Leclerc in the race.

As he returns to the scene of a short-lived first practice debut in Monza last year, which ended in the wall at Parabolica, the honeymoon period Mercedes’ highly-rated youngster was granted seems over, with the likes of world champion turned rent-a-quote Jacques Villeneuve suggesting F1 is simply “too much” for Antonelli.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko noted that “when we bring juniors into F1, they first drive at Racing Bulls, where they are not exposed to such immense pressure” but in the same breath the Austria also defended Antonelli, adding: “You simply have to give him time now so that he finds himself again.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was naturally protective of his pupil, saying he wanted Antonelli to go for bold overtakes.

Taken in isolation, Antonelli’s 2025 season has definitely not gone as smoothly as he would have hoped, and his lack of points is objectively costing Mercedes second in the constructors’ table to Ferrari as it stands.

But that seems to be a price Wolff is willing to pay in 2025’s lame duck year for Mercedes, which is yearning for the 2026 rules reset like any other team bar McLaren. Antonelli is a long-term project that needs to start paying off over the next few years, rather than deliver immediately. Yes, he was put in a difficult sink-or-swim position, but Mercedes calculated there would be times young Antonelli would struggle to stay afloat.

“We made it clear when we gave him the opportunity that we would give him a year of learning and then there would be moments where we’d tear our hair out and there would be other moments of brilliance. And I think this weekend pretty much sums that up,” Wolff said.

Toto Wolff, Executive Director of Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“It’s ups and downs and I was absolutely expecting that this season. Every one of those days is going to be a lesson for next year.”

Antonelli’s 2024 F2 campaign with Prema was a lot tougher, too, as the squad struggled to get to grips with the new chassis, with he and Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman generally battling in the midfield aside from a few race wins.

Antonelli learned a lot more from those struggles than from simply driving away from rivals in Formula Regional, and in a similar vein his tough rookie campaign at Mercedes will be hugely valuable for 2026, even if there is much short-term pain to take.

Compared to the exposure therapy of completing a 24-race season alongside experienced George Russell, how much would he have really learned from a year as a reserve, watching on from the garage? The other option would have been a loan to a midfield team, although there weren’t too many gaps to plug and it’s obvious why a team like Williams wanted Carlos Sainz.

There is one caveat to this entire argument, and that is how Antonelli himself is dealing with 2025. Having only just finished high school, the Bologna native has been going through a lot this year. He has been drinking from a firehose of information as he wraps his head around by far the most difficult cars he has ever driven, while also adjusting to life as an F1 driver across an action-packed calendar.

Mercedes will now have to ensure this bruising campaign doesn’t have any lingering aftereffects on his confidence. From Antonelli’s comments thus far, that doesn’t seem to be the case as he hasn’t lost sight of the big picture.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“Of course, starting straight away in a top team is not always easy, because racing for Mercedes is a massive privilege, but at the same time you need to deliver, you need to deliver the job,” Antonelli said about his situation.

“If I would be racing in a junior team, there would be quite a bit less pressure, but I’m really happy to have started in Mercedes, because I can learn massively.

“I’m aware I haven’t done the best of jobs, but this year is mainly to learn. It’s important to get ready for next year.”

The season 2025 will ultimately be a footnote both in Mercedes’ F1 history and Antonelli’s career, but it will lay the groundwork for a new era. And the sooner Antonelli started getting prepared for that, the better.

Meanwhile, perhaps the question shouldn’t be why Antonelli is getting so much credit, but why other young drivers like Liam Lawson and Jack Doohan were thrown under the bus so quickly.