It's official, Andrea Kimi Antonelli to be a permanent member of Mercedes' team from 2025

It was enough to see the pretty words and the eyes of love of Toto wolff, this Friday at a press conference, to understand how much Andrea Kimi Antonelli is pampered internally. The Italian may have crashed the car George Russell after only ten minutes of driving and barely a lap and a half in FP1, his Austrian boss preferred to hold back the frantic pace displayed by the Italian on his first two laps.

Aged 18 since Sunday August 25, the new darling of Italian motorsport will play at Mercedes from next season, replacing a Lewis Hamilton whose departure at Ferrari was announced last winter. Within the team with the star, it was felt that the time was right to launch F1 the one we imagine as the world champion of the future.

Antonelli-Russell, the Mercedes driver duo in 2025

Although this decision had been expected for several weeks, it nevertheless constitutes a major explosion in the world of F1. We have not seen a top team trust a very young rookie since McLaren and Lewis Hamilton in 2006. The Brackley team has in fact favoured the medium-long term and the training of a driver it considers brilliant, rather than short-term options which are undoubtedly more advantageous such as Alonso, Sainz or, Or with.

As Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes' driver program advisor, explained to us:At the time of the announcement of Lewis' departure, there were still a lot of unknowns surrounding Kimi, his ability to become an F1 driver in 2025, because we had not yet started the F2 with him, and that his experience in single-seaters was weak. We drew up an extended list of names at that time. It was gradually reduced. First by decision on our part because we did not necessarily want to go further with this or that driver, then especially by conviction, telling ourselves that Kimi was the best decision we could make for the company in the medium to long term.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, reassured by Toto Wolff. © DPPI

It must be said that the kid from Bologna has succeeded in almost everything so far. Double European champion of karting in the Senior category, he then won four titles in just… two single-seater seasons. Champion of German F4 but especially of Italian F4, he followed this up with the FRMEC title in Asia in the winter of 2023, before becoming the first rookie to win the FRECA (or equivalent) since Lando Norris in 2016. Mercedes had taken the decision to blow up the F3 this season, to launch it directly in F2, at the time of the introduction of the new single-seater.

Author of a very correct start to the season with Prema given his inexperience and the difficulties encountered by his team, the Italian had a small air hole in two rounds, not bringing back any points from Austria and Spain. But he knew how to react immediately by giving a lesson to his little comrades during a very wet sprint in England, and by winning two weeks later the main race of the Budapest meeting. In addition to his F2 season (currently 7th), he has also been immensely prepared by Mercedes, via a program of driving in F1 in the former Silver Arrows (8 days). His performances as well as the progression of a profile like Oscar piastri eventually convinced Mercedes to take the risk.

“Our 2025 driver association combines experience, talent, youth and raw speed, rejoices Toto Wolff. We are delighted with what George and Kimi bring to the team, both as individual drivers and as partners. Our new team is a perfect fit for the next chapter in our history. It is also a testament to the strength of our junior programme and our confidence in our in-house talent.”

"I am very excited to become George's teammate, explained Antonelli. He came through the team’s junior program, just like me, and he’s someone I have a lot of respect for. He’s very fast, has won several Grands Prix and has already helped me progress as a driver. I’m looking forward to learning from him and working together to deliver results on the track.” 

Contractually, Mercedes remained rather vague in its press release regarding the duration of the Italian's contract, since it was content to announce its 2025 line-up. Given his inexperience, it is difficult not to imagine a multi-year deal with obvious exit clauses. Both in the event that things go badly in the long term, but also in the event that Mercedes manages to bring in Max Verstappen for 2026. Also note, in this regard, that George Russell is currently only under contract until 2025. The brand with the star should therefore be in a strong position in terms of drivers for 2026 and beyond. Antonelli will therefore have to show good skills fairly quickly.

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