Kimi Antonelli F1 debut ‘not in Mercedes’ as ‘perfect’ Max Verstappen comparison made

Kimi Antonelli’s crashed Mercedes on a flatbed truck

Kimi Antonelli’s first run in an F1 car on the big stage should not have been in a Mercedes, nor should he make his full-time debut with the team next season.

That’s the opinion of former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan, who says the Italian rookie should instead be placed at Williams as he has “not yet” earned the right to race for Mercedes.

Kimi Antonelli has ‘not yet’ earned the right to race for Mercedes

Mercedes finally put an end to speculation about Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 replacement when they announced at the Italian Grand Prix that Antonelli would be George Russell’s new team-mate.

The announcement came 24 hours after the 18-year-old made his Formula 1 debut when he replaced Russell in a FP1 young driver outing. That session he not only recorded his first F1 P1, but he also recorded his first F1 crash.

Putting in a personal best in the first sector, Antonelli went purple in the middle sector only to lose rear-end tyre grip as he arrived at Parabolica. Spinning the W15, he went screeching through the gravel before hitting the barrier side-on in a 45G crash.

Jordan believes it was a clear indication that a Mercedes drive is not the right path in Formula 1 for the 18-year-old.

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“We always said that I thought the pressure of Mercedes would be too much for Kimi on his debut and his first run at,” he told the Formula For Success podcast, “and it turned out that’s the way it was.

“He spun out, and he caused a lot of damage to the car.

“I still believe that it’s a place for Kimi, but it’s not in Mercedes. That’s the point I’m trying to make.

“I don’t care how quick he is, he should be placed somewhere that will give Toto and his team the chance to learn for a year and come up that way. So that’s my view on that.”

Citing Max Verstappen making his debut with Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, where he spent a year and a bit, as the “perfect” way to enter Formula 1, Jordan added: “That’s exactly what should happen. Max was in Toro Rosso.

“Kimi Antonelli he should be in Williams or somewhere else where Toto can place him. It’s what we’ve been saying for ages.

“Remember what Bernie Ecclestone always, always used to say when you go looking for money, or you go looking for anything you like, he says ‘earn the right’. That’s all he’d say, ‘earn the right to ask’.

“And so at the moment, I don’t see how Antonelli has earned the right. Not yet. [He] doesn’t give me that factor of total belief.”

David Coulthard raises ‘bit slow’ issue in Kimi Antonelli crash

Mercedes, however, put Antonelli’s crash down to the Italian out-driving the W15.

“What he did, the car couldn’t take,” team boss Toto Wolff told the media including PlanetF1.com, later adding: “We would rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster,” said Wolff. “What we have seen in one and a half laps is just astonishing.”

But according to former F1 driver David Coulthard, Antonelli’s Monza crash was a mistake from a driver who didn’t react fast enough to losing the rear-end of the car.

“Getting a hold of the scruff of the neck of the car,” said the Scot. “I’ve got no issue with somebody trying hard and make a mistake.

“When I joined Williams, you know what Frank Williams was like, he never was p*ssed off if you crashed the car trying, he was p*ssed off if it was a sloppy mistake, and I actually think for Kimi it wasn’t.

“I think he just was a bit slow in his reaction, because we’ve seen many people have mistakes at Parabolica, he just didn’t grab the scruff of the neck.”

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