Ahead of Monza, why Mercedes backs rookie Kimi Antonelli despite crashes

Kimi Antonelli: Mercedes’ Rookie Rollercoaster Ahead of Italian Grand Prix

Toto Wolff needed “five minutes” to choose Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s successor when Hamilton’s Ferrari move became known last year. Twelve months on from that call being made public at Monza for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, the 18-year-old’s rookie rollercoaster — one point in the last five rounds plus high-profile clashes with Max Verstappen in Austria and Charles Leclerc in the Netherlands — has prompted scrutiny across F1. Mercedes, however, isn’t blinking.

Mercedes’ Approach to Antonelli’s Development

“When we made it clear last year in Monza that we would give him the opportunity, we were also saying that we would give him a year of learning,” Wolff said after Antonelli’s bruising Zandvoort weekend. “And then there would be moments where we'd tear our hair out and there would be other moments of brilliance. And I think this weekend [in Zandvoort] pretty much sums that up. So, up and downs, but I was absolutely expecting that from this season and every one of those days is going to be a learning for next year.”

Flashpoint at Monza FP1

Inside Mercedes, one flashpoint looms large: Antonelli’s FP1 debut at Monza last year. On an electric opening flyer he was 0.7s up on Hamilton through two sectors and 8 mph quicker through Ascari before a 130-mph slide at Parabolica triggered a 52g impact. He later admitted in a Netflix documentary he cried afterward, feeling he’d let the team and his family down. Whether that moment left a lingering mental bruise is still debated in Formula 1 circles.

“We talk about this internally, and it may be more gossip than reality, but the trip into the barrier in Monza in free practice, I think that may have just left him approaching race weekends with a degree of caution as a result,” technical director James Allison said at Silverstone. “And actually, we have been encouraging him to trust his talent and that he can lean into that more than he thinks he can.”

Handling the Pressure

Wolff concedes Mercedes intensified the spotlight on its F1 rookie. “I think we have put Kimi under maximum pressure, to be honest,” he said. “At the time, I felt it was a great idea to have him in FP1 in Monza and present him there, but that was maybe a mistake. Not because he wasn't capable of driving the car, because if he would have finished that lap without crashing, it would have been sensational and it would have built the confidence. He's in a Mercedes, he's very visible, his results are very visible, his teammate is great and is maximizing the car. Therefore, he feels himself under the magnifying glass. The team -- we just continue to believe in him. He needs time. We've embarked on this route, so you can say, 'Was it right to put him under so much pressure by putting him in the team?' We've taken that trajectory; we've taken that route. We are fully on the mission, and single race weekends or a session like we had before is not going to change our opinion. Yeah, short term, we're going to say, 'that's not good,' but Kimi is a long-term investment.”

Season Arc and Car Challenges

The season’s arc supports that patience in this F1 2025 campaign. Early on, Antonelli’s raw touch shone: P4 on debut in wet Australia and a Miami sprint pole on his first visit. But a new rear suspension introduced in Europe unsettled the Mercedes W15’s balance. George Russell adapted; Antonelli wrestled with a twitchy rear despite scoring his first podium in Canada. Only when Mercedes reverted to the old spec in Hungary did the rookie feel at home again.

“In the first six races of the season, I've had basically the same car [without major upgrades],” Antonelli said in Zandvoort. “So the car was very consistent, and having the same car really helps you to build your confidence and understanding with its behaviour. … And then we moved on to the new suspension, and that's when the struggle came. … I couldn't really adapt that well. … Now that we're back on the car at the start of the year, that hopefully will help me to build that kind of confidence again.”

Looking Ahead to 2026

For Mercedes, the final nine races of 2025 are about resetting Antonelli before the 2026 regulations, when many in the paddock expect the team to pounce under the new Formula 1 rules. That would magnify every error, which is why Wolff keeps perspective about a teenager with limited mileage.

“I think what plays a part is that it's not only the rookie season, what we forget is the decision we took was to put an 18-year-old in the car that had barely two and a half years of single-seater racing in him,” Wolff said. “When you see him, he's still a boy that we've thrown into this environment. You just want to hug him and cuddle him because he has that talent -- the raw speed that is in him. … It just needs to be unpeeled like an artichoke -- and at the end, there is the gold. We have no doubt about that. In a way, why we're taking it with a certain easiness is that we're not fighting for a world championship this year -- we're fighting for P2 and P3, and we owe it to give it the best shot for ourselves. But I can cope with the ups and downs easier now than if it was for a championship.”

Wolff’s Conviction Remains

Wolff’s five-minute conviction hasn’t wavered. The message ahead of Monza is as clear as it was last year: the lows are part of the plan, the highs are the point, and Mercedes is betting that Antonelli’s talent wins out as the Italian Grand Prix approaches.

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