The name Kimi Antonelli was all over the news following Lewis Hamilton’s sensational decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari after the 2024 F1 season. While the entire world anticipated Mercedes to replace the seven-time world champion with either Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz, Toto Wolff, like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, quietly pointed his finger toward a 17-year-old driver. And boy has he proven his worth to the world with a stellar show at Silverstone this weekend.
The young British driver has been growing rapidly under the Mercedes junior academy since 2019, building a serious resume with his ruthless performances in almost every championship he participated in. Subsequently, the expectations were soaring high ahead of Antonelli’s F2 campaign, and was even tipped to win the season by a significant margin. However, that wasn’t the case in reality.
IT’S A MAIDEN WIN FOR KIMI ANTONELLI!! 🇮🇹💪
A wet-weather MASTERCLASS from the @MercedesAMGF1 junior 👏👏👏
That’s his first victory in Formula 2 – and what a way to get it! #F2 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/J09zz79ftE
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 6, 2024
Apart from his reasonably good performances over the Australian Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekends, there was nothing really exciting about Antonelli’s stint in F2. Furthermore, ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Antonelli was dwindling in P9 in the driver’s standings, which, of course, was clearly not up to Mercedes’ heightened standards.
And quite obviously, Wolff expressed his concerns about Antonelli’s poor run of form this season. What followed was a series of rumors suggesting Mercedes’ growing interest in Carlos Sainz. If this was really the case, then, Antonelli could see himself settling for a much inferior team in Williams for 2025. But, just when things were starting to get away from Antonelli, the Italian teen pulled it back with a wet race masterclass during the F2 sprint in the United Kingdom.
Kimi Antonelli shows signs of promise after Toto Wolff’s worrying statement
Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Wolff admitted that Antonelli was unexpectedly struggling in F2. “The season has been a bit tricky [for Antonelli] because overall in F2, the two have not been on the level, and I think the team recognises that it wasn’t great,” he said according to F1_MercHub on X.
BREAKING 🚨| Toto Wolff has renewed interest in Carlos Sainz following Kimi Antonelli’s unexpectedly poor performance in F2.
Toto: “The season has been a bit tricky [for Antonelli] because overall in F2, the two have not been on the level, and I think the team recognises that it… pic.twitter.com/IXdxnbYMin
— F1_MercHub (@F1MercHub) July 5, 2024
But, only a day later, Antonelli has responded to Wolff’s concerns with a promising show in the sprint race. What’s fascinating is that it wasn’t a close victory. The Italian was almost 9 seconds ahead of Maloney in second place, portraying himself as a stand-out driver to the rest of the grid.
Now, with Antonelli showing what he could do in level-playing conditions, will Wolff regain his trust in the 17-year-old to fill in the shoes of Sir Lewis Hamilton in 2025?
Sara Chavan