Fans are now all saying the same thing about Kimi Antonelli after his first F1 podium at the Canadian Grand Prix

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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli became the third-youngest driver in Formula 1 history to finish on the podium at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli looked like he was initially struggling on his first visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Italian was off the pace of Mercedes teammate George Russell during practice, although the 27-year-old was the class of the field at the Canadian Grand Prix as he achieved his fourth career win.

Team principal Toto Wolff said after qualifying that Antonelli wouldn’t be satisfied with being half a second behind Russell even though he managed to put his Mercedes on the second row of the grid.

Antonelli then pulled off a key move on drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri on the opening lap to move into third and he hung onto that position for the rest of the race.

Nico Rosberg lauded Antonelli’s intelligence after he denied both McLaren drivers a tow in the closing stages, leading to the pair colliding and bringing the race to an end as a contest.

Wolff has told people to stop comparing Antonelli to his predecessor Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, but fans already have very lofty ambitions for the 18-year-old after he achieved his first podium finish.

READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats

Andrea Kimi Antonelli lauded as future F1 world champion after Canadian Grand Prix podium

Antonelli took to Instagram after the race and posted a photo of him holding his trophy with the caption: “My first F1 podium! Grateful beyond words to the team and to all of you for the endless support!”

MotoGP star Fabio Quartararo simply replied to Antonelli’s post with the message: “Yesssss !!!!” while Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas said: “Proud of you mate!”

“The first of many,” read another comment, while one fan said, “The best rookie.”

“Not just a great race—this felt like the start of something big. So proud of you Kimi! That was earned,” said another fan to the Italian teenager.

One fan exclaimed: “Congratulations Andrea!!! You never forget the first podium! You had a great race!!! And I can’t wait for your first victory too!”

“The first Italian podium since [Jarno] Trulli in 2009, next up first Italian winner since [Giancarlo] Fisichella in 2006 [and] after that first Italian champion since [Alberto] Ascari in 1953,” read another comment.

“Amazing race from Antonelli, future champion in the making!” read one response to his first podium on X, while another fan said: “The best in the world and the next world champion! Andrea Kimi Antonelli.”

One comment compared the young Italian to another previous champion and suggested: “Andrea Kimi Antonelli who in my opinion has a huge potential to become world champion in the future like Alonso in 2005.”

Finally, one supporter summed up his performance perfectly and said: “Huge congrats to Kimi Antonelli. Podium as a rookie, calm under pressure, and driving like a future champion. This is what Mercedes talent looks like.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Toto Wolff trying to downplay expectations on Kimi Antonelli this season

Antonelli’s Mercedes contract expires at the end of the season, highlighting how important it is that he gets up to speed quickly this year.

Russell is also out of contract at the end of the current campaign and Mercedes have held an interest in Max Verstappen for quite some time.

However, it speaks volumes about the faith that Wolff has in Antonelli that Russell is being linked with moves away from the team.

Aston Martin are keen on Russell in case he can’t agree to a new deal with Mercedes but Antonelli isn’t being linked with any teams outside of the Silver Arrows.

Wolff has downplayed expectations on Antonelli but plenty of fans and soon some of the Italian’s rivals will start to believe that he could be a future world champion.