Kimi Antonelli sounded like a ‘young Lewis Hamilton’ after what he said at Hungarian GP

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Kimi Antonelli claimed the first Feature Race win of his Formula 2 career at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend. The Mercedes junior was back on the top step after his Sprint triumph at Silverstone in the previous round.

Antonelli started the race on hard tyres, which meant he had little choice but to stay out during an early safety car period. He looked set to tumble down the order when he did eventually stop, but Amaury Cordeel’s crash led to another full-course caution.

This meant the Italian only fell to fifth after fitting a set of softs, and he rapidly sliced his way back into the lead. The 26-point haul (boosted by the fastest lap) lifts Antonelli to sixth in the championship.

He’s 55 points adrift of leader and Red Bull starlet Isack Hadjar with five rounds still remaining. That gives him an outside chance of being in contention come the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December.

Mercedes are deciding whether Antonelli is ready to replace Lewis Hamilton next year. If they elect to give him another year in F2 or try to place him at another F1 team, then they could offer Carlos Sainz a 12-month contract.

The Silver Arrows have recently made a breakthrough with their car, which suggests they could compete for the title in 2025. That may well factor into Toto Wolff’s thinking.

Kimi Antonelli praised for honest assessment of performance

Speaking on the RacingNews365 podcast, journalist Ian Parkes shared his observations on Antonelli from the post-race press conference on Sunday. The teenager admitted that he and his team still have ‘some work to do’.

He was also critical of his display in Saturday’s Sprint, when he led the race but was unable to manage his soft tyres effectively and had to pit. He viewed it as a ‘good learning experience’.

Parkes lauded the ‘refreshing honesty’ of the Prema driver and suspects Mercedes will have been ‘impressed’ too. He says Antonelli reminded him of a ‘very young Lewis Hamilton’.

The youngster has demonstrated his talent by winning four single-seater titles in the last two seasons. But he’s also displayed his maturity off-track too.

“I sat in on that F2 post-feature race press conference,” Parkes said. “As soon as he came out with those comments, I was highly impressed by how eloquent he was, how refreshingly honest he was.

“You don’t often hear that from a kid so young, under so much pressure as well when you consider the spotlight he’s been thrust under this season. All this talk about him replacing Lewis at Mercedes from next season, never mind 2026.

“I just thought ‘wow, I can see why Mercedes are now so impressed with you – not just with regard to what you can do on track and have done on track given his junior career so far – but also with this level of maturity being displayed’.”

“When he was coming out with those comments yesterday, and bearing in mind what I’ve seen on track as well from all his racing so far, he came across to me as a very young Lewis Hamilton. There’s so much there, not just with regard to what he’s doing on track, but what he’s coming out with up here as well.”

Mercedes block Kimi Antonelli from doing what Charles Leclerc did in F2

This was a rare media appearance for Antonelli. Mercedes have ‘tightly controlled’ his appearances this season in the hope of shielding him from the spotlight.

But if he continues to score race wins and podiums, he’ll be appearing in press conferences more regularly. And that will allow the team to assess whether he’s taking his in-house media training on board.

Ferrari imposed few restrictions on Charles Leclerc during his time in F2, but Mercedes have often blocked reporters from interviewing Antonelli. He needs to be prepared for a stratospheric growth in his profile if he partners George Russell next season.

Martin Brundle has urged Mercedes to promote Antonelli and ‘put up with’ any early mistakes. Clearly, he believes he’s talented enough for Wolff to take the risk.