BUDAPEST, Hungary — Italian teen sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been tipped as Lewis Hamilton‘s replacement at Mercedes, is not sure he’s ready to make the move to Formula One yet.
Mercedes academy product Antonelli, who turns 18 next month, has become a fascinating part of the driver market this year.
Team boss Toto Wolff is open to the idea of promoting the teenager when Hamilton departs for Ferrari next year.
After winning the F2 feature race ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Antonelli suggested the timing feels premature.
“I mean… I don’t know if I will be ready, to be honest,” he said at the Hungaroring.
“I’m still learning a lot in F2. Definitely I still do quite a few mistakes. A few details that really matter, I’m still not doing that right.”
Antonelli, who is sixth in the F2 championship, claimed his first series race win at Silverstone two weeks ago.
“Definitely from Silverstone I feel way lighter. Quite a bit less pressure on my shoulders,” Antonelli said.
“The pressure was building up, weekend by weekend, obviously with all the talking. “Silverstone was a big relief for me, and this weekend I was driving like my mind was way more free than the previous weekend.
“I was driving way more natural, without really thinking about the outcome. Just focusing on myself.”
Wolff’s determination to promote Antonelli can be seen in a few different ways.
Mercedes has been in no rush to confirm Hamilton’s replacement. Wolff is still monitoring the situation at Red Bull and whether Max Verstappen will look to leave for 2025 or 2026.
Some have suggested Wolff does not want to lose Antonelli like he lost out on Verstappen, who chose to sign with Red Bull over Mercedes in 2014 because the former could offer him an immediate race seat with Toro Rosso (now RB).
However, Antonelli is already signed to a Mercedes development deal beyond this year, so his immediate future is tied down to the German manufacturer regardless of what he’s doing in 2025.
Several sources have suggested to ESPN that the original plan was for Antonelli to drive at Mercedes customer Williams in 2025 while Hamilton and George Russell continued.
However, Hamilton’s departure changed all of Wolff’s plans and left him with a seat to fill and no obviously available candidates beyond Carlos Sainz to fill it.
Sainz has been stalling his own decision on where to race in 2025 with Sergio Pérez‘s Red Bull future uncertain.
Source: www.espn.com