Speaking at the Festival dello Sport organized in Trento by Gazzetta dello Sport, Andrea Kimi Antonelli talked about his path towards F1 and the reasons why Mercedes decided to back him. The Italian also set his goals for 2025, aiming to win some races.
There are still about five months left until the first race of the 2025 championship, which will mark Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s debut in a Formula 1 car as an official driver. This date represents both the conclusion of his journey in the junior categories and the beginning of a bigger adventure in the top series, where the hope is that his potential will shine through, continuing the winning streak seen in the lower series.
A debut that may seem distant in terms of time, especially considering that there are still two F2 events left before fully focusing on the next adventure, but which is quickly approaching. Behind the scenes, the Italian is already preparing for his first F1 season through a testing program organized by Mercedes, which has seen him try out various cars in recent months.
It’s all aimed at being as ready as possible for that Australian GP, where the first part of the dream will come true: “Being an official driver next year is something I haven’t fully realized yet. I’m gradually processing it, but I think I’ll only truly realize it when I’m on the grid in Melbourne. But I’m really happy, it’s a dream come true,” Kimi Antonelli commented on the sidelines of the Festival dello Sport organized by Gazzetta dello Sport in Trento.
“I feel ready for F1. In terms of speed, I don’t think that will be a problem, and the main challenge will be learning how to manage the race weekend in the best possible way and understanding all the procedures. So, there will be a lot to learn, but I feel ready.”
The new season hasn’t started yet, but the Italian driver has already set his first goals for his debut year in Formula 1, aiming high by targeting podium finishes and even race wins. While acknowledging that his first year will be a learning experience in a completely new category, it’s clear that Antonelli already has a strong desire to win.
“Winning a few races would definitely be a dream. It won’t be easy, because all teams have competitive cars, so it will be very difficult, but that’s my first goal. Even a few podiums would be good, but the main objective is to bring home some victories,” explained Kimi Antonelli.
Not just results: what convinced Mercedes on a personal level
The Italian will make his debut in the top series directly with a top team like Mercedes, without going through an intermediate stage with a mid-tier team. This is a gamble for the Anglo-German team but also a sign of trust in a driver who has quickly risen through the junior ranks.
In fact, Kimi Antonelli has been part of the Mercedes Academy for several years, allowing the team to closely follow his development, including his successes in Formula 4 and Formula Regional, where he showed the speed that led the team to fast-track him into Formula 2 and then Formula 1 after just one year. Undoubtedly, Lewis Hamilton’s departure aligned the stars, but as Toto Wolff explained, the team had long considered Kimi Antonelli one of the top candidates to inherit the British driver’s mantle.
When asked what, in his view, convinced Mercedes to back him for 2025, Kimi Antonelli said that, besides his on-track results, which are crucial for progressing to F1, his personality also played a role: “I definitely convinced Mercedes with my results on the track, because in the end, those are the most important thing. But also because Toto talked a lot with my family, and because of the person I’ve become. This is thanks to my family, as they raised me this way, so I believe that an additional factor was the person I’ve grown into.” – the Italian explained.
The importance of testing in his development
Of course, this is not the only reason the team decided to bet on the Italian, as Mercedes is mainly looking for a fast driver, as Kimi Antonelli has proven to be in various junior categories. To understand his level, it was also helpful to observe him in action during private tests throughout the season, a key tool in identifying his strengths and the areas that still need improvement.
According to Kimi Antonelli, what surprised Mercedes was how quickly the young driver managed to reach the limit in a Formula 1 car despite his limited experience. Recent debuts of drivers coming from the junior series have shown how competitive new talents can be, but it’s clear that track experience is essential to form a complete picture and understand their progress.
Throughout the various test sessions, Kimi Antonelli made strides not only in finding the car’s limit but also in areas that typically challenge rookies, such as race pace and tire management. For a driver who, until last season, didn’t even have to deal with using two different tire compounds in a race, it’s logical that race management is an area where there’s room for growth, as already highlighted at Spa.
“In the private tests, one thing that impressed them was how quickly I reached the limit, how quickly I achieved the lap times they had set. I have to say that one area where I struggled more during the tests was race pace. However, in the last two days of testing at Spa, I significantly improved my race pace, and that convinced them to sign me,” Kimi Antonelli said, emphasizing how crucial that test was.
“Until that point, their plan was to put me in the Mercedes car in 2025, but they first wanted to see if I could improve on the weak points I had. In the Spa tests, I made a big step forward, and that convinced them. In fact, before the summer break, I had a call with Wolff, my engineer, and other people from Mercedes, and they told me I would be their driver in 2025. That was a great moment.” – he pointed out.
The progress during the tests has been on multiple fronts: learning how to better exploit the car and get closer to the limit, but also learning to understand and use feedback from the team to improve, both in terms of setup and in real-time during a race weekend.
“I think many things are learned through experience, and in Formula 1, you have a lot of data you can look at, even live telemetry, so the engineer can tell you in real-time where to improve. Already on the next lap, you can apply what the engineer says and improve. In general, with these tests, they’ve tried to let me figure things out on my own, without giving me too many guidelines. At the Spa test, where I made a step forward, it was in feeling the tires, anticipating the degradation, and maintaining the pace, which are fundamental aspects in a race.”
Lots of work on procedures, between the steering wheel and starts
In the junior categories, Kimi Antonelli was always a driver who spoke little on the radio to stay focused on driving, but in F1, communication will be more intense, especially from the pit wall, with engineers providing constant updates not only to improve performance but also to manage the car.
One of the key aspects will also be learning all the procedures and customizing the steering wheel to make it as comfortable as possible. This may seem like a minor detail, but it is actually crucial for a driver who needs to remember the position of all the various buttons and rotary switches to adjust brake balance, car balance, and other elements that impact performance.
“It will be important to learn how not to lose focus when someone is talking to you from the pit wall, because they’re giving you useful information. In the tests, they’re talking to me more and more because, in F1, it’s essential to learn the procedures, so when they ask for a change, you need to know which button to press on the steering wheel and what it does. These are all things I’m learning and getting used to, which is why I’m doing the tests, not just to improve my driving but also to learn the procedures and get used to having someone constantly talking to me on the radio.”
Kimi Antonelli also revealed an interesting detail: Mercedes will send him a simulator to practice starts at home. In recent years, F1 starts are no longer assisted, so drivers need to learn to find the right feel for releasing the clutch. This way, the Italian can not only gain experience with specialized software but also give the engineers early feedback, for example, on his preferences for clutch control or how he positions his fingers.
“Mercedes will send me this steering wheel and a small simulator to my home to learn how to do starts, so I’ll be able to practice starts. The steering wheel is the one from Formula 1, so it will also help me memorize the buttons, because at high speeds, you don’t have time to look at the steering wheel, you need to know it by heart. So they’ll send me this simulator not only to learn starts but also to memorize the buttons.” – the Italian manager concluded.
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