Nico Rosberg’s F1 solution for ‘Max Verstappen-level’ Mercedes contender Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli.

Comparing the talents of Mercedes prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli to that of Max Verstappen, Nico Rosberg believes a Williams mid-season swap will provide the platform to “really show what he’s capable of.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has made no secret of his considerations to promote Antonelli to their F1 2025 line-up as they search for seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton’s successor, Wolff in fact confirming recently that Antonelli remains the “first option.”

Nico Rosberg in favour of Kimi Antonelli to Williams

Antonelli went from winning the Formula Regional European Championship straight into Formula 2 for 2024, but sits P7 in the current Championship standings despite claiming two wins so far in his rookie season.

With Antonelli’s team-mate Oliver Bearman – who has already been signed by Haas for F1 2025 – also struggling to make a consistent impact, Rosberg pointed to the Prema F2 car as the problem, but has a potential solution.

While Carlos Sainz has been signed to Williams for F1 2025 to partner Alex Albon, team boss James Vowles has not confirmed that Logan Sargeant is certain to see out the season, with rumours having bubbled away for some time that Antonelli could be in line for his F1 debut as part of a mid-season swap at the Grove outfit.

When presented with that theory, Rosberg said a Williams move would boost Antonelli by allowing him to show what he can truly do and build confidence ahead of a Mercedes call-up.

“At the moment, it’s really not helping anybody,” said Sky F1 pundit Rosberg in reference to Antonelli’s situation.

“Because I think Antonelli just doesn’t have the car to show what he’s capable of in Formula 2. And we know that sometimes that is the case in the lower categories. So you need to get yourself there too in the good cars and so it’s a bit of a waste at the moment.

“So certainly it would be helpful if the move to something like Williams would be possible for him to really show what he’s capable of and also start building his confidence towards the possible move to Mercedes.”

F1 driver market continues at pace

Carlos Sainz is taking a big leap of faith buying into the Williams dream

Surprise new Audi F1 target emerges with McLaren-backed driver on the radar – report

Rosberg is very familiar with Antonelli’s talents, as the Italian at one stage competed with Rosberg’s team during his karting days.

And in the opinion of Rosberg, Antonelli is a “Max Verstappen-level” talent, Verstappen having taken F1 by storm over recent years with three Drivers’ titles in a row, while he is in a commanding position to make that four in F1 2024.

“Kimi Antonelli raced in my go-karting team when he was a little kid,” said Rosberg. “He’s phenomenal. He’s Max Verstappen-level. It’s really unbelievable.”

Rosberg’s fellow Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle believes Mercedes should take the plunge and put Antonelli alongside George Russell for F1 2025.

“As I’ve got George Russell who can lead the team, I would bring Antonelli along and just put up with the mistakes he’ll make in the beginning,” said Brundle.

Vowles recently revealed that he had been messaging Wolff during the F2 action at Spa where he was impressed by what he saw from Antonelli, but whether that means Williams could play a part in his F1 journey is unclear.

“It was interesting. I’ll talk to you about something that’s very private, but I hope that Toto doesn’t mind,” said Vowles. “We were messaging yesterday during the F2 race and for me what Kimi did is bloody impressive.

“It was against [Franco] Colapinto, our own driver here. He went up the inside and he didn’t lift and for all of you that have at least been in a racing car, you know how tough that move was. That, in the wet, is not just brave, that takes a hell of a lot of skill and he had snaps at the top of Eau Rouge. That’s impressive.

“He’s a good kid. But he’s 17. And answering your question, I’ll be proud of whatever he achieves because I was part of his journey all the way up until the last few years, but I’m not sure that’s going to overlap with Williams.”

Read next: Red Bull ‘secret sauce’ theory emerges with impact of key McLaren signing assessed