Mercedes chief lauds ‘pretty impressive’ 17-year-old driver making huge step up next year

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Mercedes F1 communications director Bradley Lord has admitted that the team are really excited about 17-year-old academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Lord was talking on The Fast & The Curious Podcast about the up-and-coming drivers trying to get into Formula 1.

There are plenty of youngsters attempting to break into F1 at the moment who simply can’t grind out an opportunity.

Every team on the grid retained their drivers this winter in what’s thought to be a first for the sport.

It’s meant that even the most recent Formula 2 champions are having to settle for limited testing time to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car.

However, each team also has a selection of talented youngsters ready and waiting for an opportunity to arise.

Mercedes youngster Frederik Vesti finished runner-up in F2 this year and will be looking for a new opportunity in 2024, while Mick Schumacher is set to take part in the World Endurance Championship.

Lord has suggested that there’s a lot of excitement within Mercedes about teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The young Italian is flying through the junior formulas after exceeding expectations over the past couple of years.

He’s closing in on Formula 1 very quickly at the current trajectory that he’s going.

Lord impressed with Mercedes junior Antonelli

Asked about the way young drivers break into the sport, Lord said: “That pathway, I think it’s worth saying that F1 Academy is positioned perfectly actually for where it is in the ladder in terms of propelling talent forward and into F3 and the series that then follows as well.

“In terms of junior drivers for us at the moment, we’ve got a young Italian guy called Kimi Antonelli, he’s 17 and he’s jumping Formula 3 and going straight into Formula 2 next season and had a pretty impressive first team in Abu Dhabi after the race weekend as well.

“So, everyone is and we’re very excited to see how he gets on because it’s a big step, that’ll be a really interesting test.”

Plenty of F2’s best drivers moved on at the end of 2023, leaving a vacuum at the front of the grid for other drivers to fill.

If Antonelli can adapt to life at Formula 2 quickly, then Mercedes and Lord may start to take notice.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are signed up until the end of 2025 but if the team decide to make a change in their lineup after that, Antonelli should have had two seasons to establish himself in the tier below.

Timing is everything when it comes to breaking into Formula 1 and the stars could align for the young Italian in the future.