Mercedes chief claims 2025 prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the ‘real deal’ after impressing one and all during F1 tests

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been in the headlines ever since the start of the 2024 F1 season.

Mercedes chief claims 2025 prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the ‘real deal’ after impressing one and all during F1 tests

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Via: Imago)

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a current F2 driver for Prema Racing (also a Mercedes junior), turned heads within the Mercedes Technical Team as he drove around the circuit of Imola. Mercedes’s Technical Director, James Allison was in high praise of the Italian after his recent testing runs.

The Mercedes Formula 1 team faces the mammoth task of replacing their renowned seven-time world champion driver, Lewis Hamilton, who is set to leave the team at the end of this year. As the German outfit looks to sign a new driver, they have taken immense interest in the young sensation, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

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He's fast, consistent. Looks like the real deal.
James Allison said in an interview in Imola

Kimi Antonelli participated in testing sessions around the Red Bull Ring and at Imola. There has also been news of him participating in a comparison practice run with Mercedes’s reserve driver, Mick Schumacher at Silverstone. Antonelli has caught several eyes in recent times and is on the way up in the world of F1.

Lewis Hamilton would sign Andrea Kimi Antonelli had he been in Toto Wolff’s position

Lewis Hamilton delivered much praise for Antonelli on Thursday in Imola. He admitted that he would have been the first to sign the 17-year-old to fill the vacant 2025 Mercedes seat had he been in Toto Wolff‘s shoes.

Lewis Hamilton (L), Toto Wolff (R) (images via IMAGO).
Lewis Hamilton (L), Toto Wolff (R) (images via IMAGO)
Honestly, I have no idea what Toto's plans are, but for me, taking on a youngster. if it was my job, if it was my role, I would probably take on Kimi.
Lewis Hamilton said in a recent interview with ESPN

The 39-year-old has wholeheartedly backed the young Italian. Moreover, with Antonelli being linked to driving for Williams in the near future, it will give Mercedes the perfect opportunity to assess how the young driver would handle the pressure of driving in F1.

It will help Toto Wolff and Co. to make a solid decision regarding Mercedes’s driver line-up for the 2025 F1 season. It has been rumored that Andrea Kimi Antonelli is in line to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams in the upcoming Dutch GP.

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