– On August 31, 2024, Kimi Antonelli was officially confirmed as a Mercedes driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season. However, Antonelli had known about his upcoming promotion to motorsport’s “king class” much earlier. How long, the current championship leader revealed in a video from Mercedes sponsor SAP: It was early January 2024 – and even before Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari.
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He said he tested a Formula 3 car in Silverstone in the first days of January to prepare for his Formula 2 season, Antonelli explained. “At the end of the day, Toto called me into his office. That already surprised me because something like that usually doesn’t happen.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was “straight to the point” at this meeting. “He said: ‘Lewis is going to Ferrari, and we are thinking about putting you in the car next year.’ That literally opened my eyes,” said Antonelli.
At first, he couldn’t believe it. “I hadn’t even started my first Formula 2 season yet. I still had so much to prove to even earn this cockpit. And Toto was already talking about it!”
Photo gallery: “Wonderkid” and record breaker: The career of Kimi Antonelli
“Then he asked me: ‘If the opportunity arises – would you be ready?’ I answered: ‘Yes, I have to be ready!’ The team then specifically prepared me for this with Formula 1 tests.”
When Antonelli realized the Formula 1 promotion
But although Antonelli knew it would happen, the official confirmation in summer 2024 still occupied him a lot: “I first had to comprehend what had just happened. I remember lying on a lounger on the terrace just staring at the sky because I was trying to process it all.”
And it remained challenging for Antonelli: His debut season in Formula 1 in 2025 did not always go as desired. Although Antonelli had a “good start to the season,” the subsequent European races were “difficult” from his perspective. He had “really big problems” – and collected only 48 points in the first nine races.
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Antonelli achieved his first podium with third place in the tenth race in Canada, a kind of breakthrough, but in the following six race weekends he scored only three more points – teammate George Russell, on the other hand, achieved four top-5 finishes, including another podium.
How much Antonelli suffered from the lack of success
Antonelli suffered from his negative streak. “I felt like I was disappointing all the people who believed in me – especially Toto, because he had made the decision. During this phase, I was not feeling well at all. I allowed the pressure to literally destroy me.”
Only an internal team meeting after the European season brought the turnaround. “That helped me to make a fresh start,” said Antonelli. “I gradually found my form again and then had a good second half of the season.” From Baku onwards, he scored two podiums and three more top-5 positions.
What made Antonelli stronger
Looking back, he said he especially benefited from the difficult moments: “I learned a lot about myself – not only as a driver but also as a person. During the European season, I did many things that did not help me at all. Now I know better what helps me to regain the right focus and the right mental attitude.”
Despite this positive development for him, Antonelli was “completely exhausted” at the end of his first Formula 1 season because so much new information had come at him from all sides. “The learning curve was enormous,” said Antonelli. “It felt like I had completed three years at once. That was physically and mentally overwhelming.”
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