Mercedes keep ‘very impressive’ Kimi Antonelli on F1 2025 radar in fresh driver update

Mercedes prospect Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli has been rumored to be one of Mercedes’ favorite choices as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton in the upcoming F1 2025 season — and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin had more praise for the young star ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Shovlin pointed to Antonelli’s “very impressive CV” and his “natural” talents as the primary reasons for Mercedes‘ interest.

Andrew Shovlin: Antonelli will “have a very bright future”

When Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari for 2025, Mercedes knew it would have some big shoes to fill. But it wasn’t long before the Brackley-based outfit expressed its interest in young Kimi Antonelli.

Italian racer Andrea Kimi Antonelli is just 17 years old but has already made a strong impression in the motorsport world.

Speaking to media ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Shovlin elaborated on why Mercedes had been so interested in the young driver in the first place, saying, “His speed is the main thing.

“He’s gone through the series very very quickly. It wasn’t long ago that he was driving go-karts; he’s now in F2, he’s testing an F1 car with us.

“He’s got a very impressive CV for someone so young, and no doubt he’ll have a bright future.

“But he looks like one of those naturally gifted talents that everyone’s trying to find.”

That’s some extremely high praise. Ever since a teenaged Max Verstappen was pushed through the feeder series ranks to Formula 1, many teams have been looking to find that once-in-a-lifetime young talent that they could shape with their team in mind.

Antonelli certainly appears to be one such driver, at least as far as Mercedes is concerned.

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But is Antonelli the right choice?

At the start of 2024, Mercedes seemed to be in dire straits; the once-dominant team had fallen out of the battle at the front of the pack, and there would certainly be a great benefit in throwing something entirely new at the wall to see what sticks.

But recently, Mercedes has found its stride. Victories by both Hamilton and George Russell have shown that the team has more potential than expected, even as the W15 still struggles on hot tracks.

For some teams, that turning of the tides might be enough to convince it to sign a more experienced driver and not take a risk on new talent. But according to Shovlin, that’s not about to happen.

“To be honest, where we’re racing doesn’t really affect [driver decisions],” Shovlin said.

“We want the two best drivers, and we need to make the best car, and the team are going to focus on that. If you get those ingredients right, you’ll do fine.

“But certainly where we are in the competitive order doesn’t affect whether we’re looking for an experienced driver or a young driver.”

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