Mercedes have seen three clear signs why Kimi Antonelli is a future F1 champion in his rookie season

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a record-breaking start to his F1 career and while his rookie season has not been faultless, the Italian’s year so far has inspired Mercedes.

The Silver Arrows put their faith in Antonelli taking over the seat that Lewis Hamilton quit to move to Ferrari in the 2025 F1 season. It was a huge ask by Mercedes, with the Bologna boy becoming the third-youngest driver to start any F1 Grand Prix when he debuted in Australia.

Antonelli initially thrived through his first few rounds as an F1 driver during the early flyaway races. But Antonelli lost all confidence in Mercedes’ car due to their rear suspension update at Imola, which dogged the 19-year-old’s European tour until the upgrade was thrown away.

George Russell won while Antonelli got his debut F1 podium with P3 in the Canadian Grand Prix with Mercedes’ rear suspension upgrade. But the rostrum proved to be Antonelli’s only points during a seven-round stretch, before taking points in four of the last five Grands Prix.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s resilience convinces Mercedes that he is a future F1 drivers’ champion

After rebuilding his confidence with the W16, Antonelli finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in P4 and the Singapore Grand Prix in P5. The Italian was also disappointed to qualify just P4 at Marina Bay, having believed more was possible as Russell scored pole for the Singapore GP.

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

Antonelli’s resilience to overcome his mid-season wobble is also one of the signs Mercedes have seen to believe he can win the F1 drivers’ championship in the future. That is according to FunoAnalisiTecnica, which reports that his ability to learn and control have also stood out.

“Yeah, it was good. Well, Q3 wasn’t good,” Antonelli said after qualifying P4 in Singapore, via quotes by ESPN. “[In] Q1 and Q2, I felt strong. Q3, I let my emotions get over and started to drive a bit tense because I felt I had a real shot to at least front row, because we were quick.

“But then I started to overdrive and I started to push more and more, starting to carry a lot of speed into the corner. But it was too much over the limit. It was a shame.”

Before Antonelli qualified P4 for the Azerbaijan GP, the rookie had not qualified higher than P7 over the seven rounds since he also qualified P4 for June’s Canadian GP. The Mercedes product further bowed out during Q2 twice and even in Q1 at the Belgian Grand Prix in P18.

Kimi Antonelli had a record-breaking start before Mercedes’ upgrade spoiled his rookie season

Antonelli shouldered zero blame for his retirements from the Emilia Romagna, Spanish and British Grands Prix during rounds seven, nine and 12. He suffered a throttle sensor issue at Imola, an engine failure in Barcelona and was hit by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar at Silverstone.

But questions began to grow about the Italian’s readiness for F1, despite his record-breaking start to the term. Antonelli broke Max Verstappen’s record as the youngest driver to lead an F1 Grand Prix in Japan, where he also became the youngest driver to register the fastest lap.

Additionally, Antonelli became the youngest-ever F1 polesitter for the Miami Sprint in May, when he edged championship-leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds in only his sixth round. Antonelli also recorded his best Grand Prix qualifying position thus far in F1 of P3 in Miami.

But Antonelli’s crash during Q1 in qualifying in Monaco, his crash with Verstappen in Austria, his P16 finish in Belgium and another P16 finish in the Netherlands soured his reputation. Yet the Bologna boy did not give in and has reaped the rewards with his recent top-five results.