All eyes will be on Kimi Antonelli, the 18-year-old Mercedes Formula One driver, when the lights go out at Albert Park in Melbourne in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.
The young Italian has been under the spotlight since he was signed as the replacement for seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who has joined Ferrari.
It is the kind of attention last seen when Max Verstappen burst onto the F1 scene as a 17-year-old in 2015. The Red Bull driver has gone on to win four drivers’ championships, including last season’s.
Antonelli’s comments have only served to fuel the anticipation.
“I will attack fully from the start, my mindset is to go out on the track and drive for victories,” he told sport.de in pre-season.
“It’s not easy, of course, I’m racing against the best of the best. It takes hard work. Therefore, of course, I will try to learn as much as possible from the beginning. But I’ll attack and push immediately without fear and see what happens then.”
Always love racing in Melbourne ❤️ One month until lights out at the #AusGP pic.twitter.com/cFgXRHRObL
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 16, 2025
The young speedster, who only recently passed his driving test, showed a glimpse of his pace at Monza, Antonelli’s home track, on his free practice debut in Formula One at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
He was lightning quick on his first flying lap and was even quicker on his second, before slamming into the tyre barrier. He was apologetic after that forgettable debut, and was consoled by Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“Just a mistake by my side, just pushing a bit too much for the conditions and I should have built the run a bit more progressively,” he said. “But definitely a lesson learned for next time.”
Wolff has gambled on the youngster. Some people have questioned if it was because he had missed out on Verstappen years ago. There is no doubting Antonelli’s talent, however.
After dominated karting championships, Antonelli was scouted by Mercedes at the age of just 13 and signed to their junior programme in 2019. He made the switch from karts to cars at 15 and dominated the Italian and German F4 categories in 2022.
Antonelli continued to impress as he won the Formula Regional Middle East and European championships. Mercedes fast-tracked him straight into Formula 2, rather than Formula 3.
The jump appeared to be too much as Antonelli made a slow start to his F2 campaign. However, victories at Silverstone and in Budapest may have convinced Wolff of the second coming.
Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya recently urged the teenager to take the time to learn from teammate George Russel and not be overly bullish.
“He might lose his mind at the beginning of the year because he’s no longer racing against (his) teammates. He had easy times before, but now suddenly he is going against someone who is better than what he has experienced before,” he told the AS Colombia YouTube channel.
“The car is built exactly to what George wants and he is going to have a difficult time.
“If he has the mentality of going out to stay behind George and learn from George and if out of 25 (24) races, in 10 he gets ahead of George, then it’s a good year. But, if he wants to go out to dominate George, maybe he will lose his head and the year will become complicated for him.”
Whether attack-minded Antonelli heeds the warning, only time will tell. One thing for sure is that he has added fresh excitement and an element of unpredictability to the sport.
When the lights go out at Abert Park and the other F1 venues, not all eyes will be on Verstappen or Lando Norris of McLaren.