Jenson Button’s ‘destroy’ warning as Kimi Antonelli Mercedes F1 2025 speculation persists

Mercedes prodigy Kimi Antonelli continues to be linked with their vacant F1 2025 seat, but Jenson Button warns teams can “destroy” a young driver under the pressure if they are not careful.

The same warning can also apply to Haas, who have signed Ferrari’s British hot prospect Oliver Bearman for F1 2025.

Jenson Button ‘destroy’ warning relevant to Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman

Off the back of his latest title triumph, Formula Regional European Champion Antonelli skipped Formula 3 to join Prema’s Formula 2 charge, Mercedes looking to the Italian for their future as a leading candidate to replace seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who is heading for Ferrari.

Under immense pressure and scrutiny, Antonelli has not quite hit the heights many had expected so far, despite delivering a masterclass in the wet at Silverstone, but currently P8 in the F2 standings and having conducted private tests in Mercedes F1 machinery, he remains very much in the conversation to join their F1 2025 line-up.

Antonelli’s Prema team-mate Bearman already has his F1 2025 place secured and while Button encourages these young drivers to accept the opportunity, he also stressed the importance of them being managed the right way by their respective teams at this early point in their career.

If things do not go quite right, 2009 World Champion Button says it could “destroy” the career of a driver like Antonelli or Bearman.

On his own F1 debut, which came with Williams back in 2000 when he was only 20, Button, quoted by RacingNews365 began: “I don’t think it was too early, I think you have to take every opportunity when it comes to you, especially for youngsters at 17, 18 or 19. You can’t say no!

“But the teams, I think they need to really think about what they’re doing to a driver in his career at that age.

“If he blossoms great, but with the pressures that this sport brings, it can destroy a driver’s career as well. So there’s a real balance there and teams need to be careful with it.”

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has the task of deciding who replaces Hamilton as George Russell’s F1 2025 team-mate and praised Antonelli over his Silverstone F2 sprint win, believing it relieved a lot of pressure from the 17-year-old Italian’s shoulders.

“F2 is so difficult this year because the car… you can see that him and Bearman are struggling a lot with the car and he isn’t happy with his driving and not [having] the pace in the race,” Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com.

“But seeing him on Saturday walking over the water, at times two seconds quicker than everybody else, you can see the talent and the ability and the potential this young guy has.

“Winning that race I think took a lot of weight off his shoulders.”

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