Mercedes have just made a Kimi Antonelli decision that goes against one promise they made at the start of the 2025 F1 season

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Mercedes made one of the boldest calls in the history of the Formula 1 driver’s market midway through the 2024 season.

When Mercedes discovered that Lewis Hamilton could be leaving after 12 seasons to race for Ferrari, team principal Toto Wolff had a huge call to make.

They had plenty of options available to them, with Wolff not ruling out a move for Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen being on Mercedes’ radar for much of the year.

However, Mercedes decided to promote from within, and thus Andrea Kimi Antonelli received the call that he was going to replace the most successful driver in F1 history.

Antonelli did copious amounts of private testing to get up to speed as quickly as possible ahead of the 2025 season starting.

His first public outing didn’t go to plan, crashing during practice at Monza on just his second flying lap.

However, after five races, he’s proved that he’s quick enough to be deserving of an F1 race seat.

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

Mercedes shine the spotlight on Kimi Antonelli after downplaying 2025 expectations

It’s been made clear since before Antonelli made his debut that he’s not a direct replacement for Hamilton, and he’s not expected to live up to the seven-time world champion’s feats any time soon.

In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, before the season started, Wolff downplayed his expectations of Antonelli, stating, “If you expect him to be on pole position in Melbourne, win the race and immediately fight for the championship, then the risk is high because that won’t happen.

“If we approach it in such a way that the boy is 18 years old, very talented, but of course has to grow into it first and will make mistakes, then the risk is limited.

“That’s why we’re doing it. We see 2025 as a transition year and want to prepare him for 2026.”

However, while Mercedes have tried to give Antonelli as much time as possible to get to grips with being an F1 driver, they’re not passing up the opportunity to put him centre-stage in the paddock.

The team announced on Monday that Antonelli will be the subject of his own Netflix documentary, stating on X, “The Seat” is an unprecedented inside look into the biggest driver change in @F1 history.

It concentrates on Antonelli going from Mercedes prodigy to Formula 1 driver, and while Wolff wants him not to rush and push too hard on the track to immediately succeed, his team have no concerns about the 18-year-old being the star of a new Netflix show.

Given how many fans came to Formula 1 via Drive to Survive, this is only going to increase Antonelli’s profile and put even more scrutiny on him each time he heads out onto the track.

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

Andrea Kimi Antonelli already impressing rival team principals during his debut F1 season

While Mercedes might be sending mixed messages around Antonelli, he’s already catching the attention of his rivals in the paddock.

Zak Brown has compared Antonelli to Oscar Piastri after his first five race weekends, which is high praise indeed given the Australian is currently leading the drivers’ championship.

Ferrari will inevitably be asked about Antonelli given the Italian connection and the long wait for the Tifosi for a homegrown talent to rise through the ranks and race for the Scuderia.

That would only pile more pressure on the teenager if he were to make that move, and while keeping a low profile isn’t exactly on the agenda for many F1 drivers, Mercedes green lighting a documentary focusing solely on their new recruit is unlikely to make the task of being a rookie any easier over the coming weeks.