Eddie Jordan thinks Toto Wolff has already made key mistake with Kimi Antonelli’s F1 career

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Toto Wolff has taken a massive gamble ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, putting faith in Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli to replace Lewis Hamilton.

The Italian driver is incredibly highly rated, but he is under significant pressure before he makes his debut at the Australian Grand Prix next season.

Antonelli has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the junior ranks and was put in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in first practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The 18-year-old crashed at Parabolica in the opening stages of FP1 as he aggressively attacked the final turn of the lap.

Antonelli will become the youngest driver on the grid, a move that has split opinion in the paddock as he will jump straight into a team expecting to fight for victories.

Eddie Jordan voiced his doubts on the Formula For Success podcast about the Italian and believes Wolff may have made a mistake by promoting the young driver so early in his career.

Eddie Jordan believes Mercedes have made a mistake with Kimi Antonelli

It is rare for a young rookie to move straight into a race-winning team after graduating into Formula 1, with the last example being Lewis Hamilton racing at McLaren in 2007.

Other drivers, such as George Russell and Max Verstappen, both began their careers at teams that weren’t capable of winning races, such as Williams and Toro Rosso.

This allowed them to make errors and rookie mistakes away from the added attention that comes with battling at the front. They both moved to more successful teams, Mercedes and Red Bull, and have won races.

READ MORE: Theo Pourchaire highlights what will be ‘very difficult’ for Andrea Kimi Antonelli during debut F1 season

Jordan was far from impressed by Antonelli’s antics at Monza and believes the Italian should have gone to a Mercedes customer team such as Williams.

He said: “I thought the pressure of Mercedes would be too much for Kimi and his debut and his first run. It turned out that’s the way it was.

“He spun out and he caused a lot of damage to the car. I still believe that there is a place for Kimi, but it’s not in Mercedes. That’s the point I’m trying to make. I don’t care how quick he is. He should be placed somewhere that will give Toto and his team the chance to learn for a year and come up that way.”

Antonelli will need to hit the ground running in 2025 Formula 1 season

Antonelli is facing a tall order ahead of his rookie F1 season in a car in which he will have limited track time ahead of the opening round at Albert Park.

Most tracks will be brand new to the Mercedes driver, such as Suzuka in Japan and the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.

This will add an extra layer of learning for the Italian as he acclimatises to the extra media focus of being an F1 driver.

He will inevitably make rookie errors next year, which Wolff and Mercedes will have to deal with as they have put an inexperienced driver in their car.