The Kimi Antonelli asset ‘that you cannot buy’ identified in ‘shining’ Mercedes prediction

Kimi Antonelli has been backed by his compatriot Vitantonio Liuzzi to have a “shining future” in Formula 1, after all, he’s got speed, and that “you cannot buy”.

Antonelli will become the 99th Italian to compete in Formula 1 when he lines up on the Australian Grand Prix grid next March as a Mercedes driver.

Kimi Antonelli has ‘speed’ that a driver ‘cannot buy’

Mercedes recently confirmed the 18-year-old would replace Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff making the announcement the day after Antonelli’s headline-grabbing debut in FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix.

Replacing George Russell in one of Mercedes’ two young driver outings for the season, Antonelli went purple on his very first flying lap and was even quicker on his second before he binned the W15 at Parabolica .

“What he did, the car couldn’t take…” Wolff said of his crash, adding: “We would rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster. What we have seen in one and a half laps is just astonishing.”

And it bodes well for his future says his compatriot Liuzzi, himself a former F1 driver.

“Kimi showed really strong performance since [his] karting time,” Liuzzi told the official F1 website. “I think he’s an amazing talent.

“What happened [in Monza] can happen to anybody when they reach F1. There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, but he deserves this seat, he deserves an F1 position. I think he’s going to have a shining future.

“I’m happy that Mr. Wolff gave him a chance and he’s in a really great environment. I’m really looking forward to 2025 and to see how he will perform.

“Russell is a really amazing team-mate as a benchmark. Kimi can learn from George and take a lot of information [on board]. I think he will be quickly up to speed and he can be a really good team player.

“It won’t be easy, because obviously you start with a lot of pressure in a team like Mercedes, one of the top teams in the field, but I think if he’s smart enough to play well his cards, as I said before, he will have a really bright future.

“The speed is there, and that you cannot buy, so that’s the most important thing.”

Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in F1 2025

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Antonelli will be the 99th Italian to race in Formula 1 with former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi the most recent. However, there hasn’t been an Italian on the grid since 2021.

“We missed an Italian on the F1 grid – it’s so important,” said Liuzzi, who raced for Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India and HRT during his time in F1.

“Italy is such a historic country for motorsport. Apart from the Grand Prix, we have historic brands, great brands, so it’s important to keep the passion of the people high.

“It’s amazing that we have this opportunity [with] an Italian back on the grid, and I think he will have a lot of support from Italy, because there is a lot of passion about F1 [in the country].”

Antonelli has a one-year contract with Mercedes, Wolff admitting that signing the youngster as Russell’s new team-mate is a risk, but one that he feels is worth taking.

“There are some good indications that he has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, and now it needs to be conditioned. When you invest in young drivers, these things [crashes] happen,” he said.

“You need to be prepared to take that risk.”

He added: “I think we don’t want to slow a driver down. We’re happy to work with someone who has so much speed, that has confidence.”

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