Nico Rosberg explains what role he played in Kimi Antonelli signing for Mercedes

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Nico Rosberg has explained the role he played early on in the career of newly appointed Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will partner George Russell from 2025.

The 18-year-old Italian is one of the most anticipated drivers to make a full-time race debut in Formula 1, after being billed by those in the F1 paddock as the next Max Verstappen.

Despite Antonelli crashing during his outing in FP1 in an impact that registered 52G at Monza, he earned high praise from Mercedes chiefs for his blistering pace out of the garage.

When discussing Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s ascent to F1 on Sky Sports this weekend, Nico Rosberg revealed that he played an important role in Antonelli’s career when he came through the karting ranks.

READ MORE: Who is Mercedes academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

Nico Rosberg helped fund Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s karting career

Although he has endured a tough season in Formula 2 this year, owing to problems with his Prema team, Antonelli’s racing record is exceptional.

He won almost every title in junior karting and then recently won titles in European Formula Regional and Italian F4 before stepping up to the F1 feeder series.

Karting can be quite expensive and while Mercedes did help Antonelli on his way through the ranks, it was the 2016 F1 World Champion that fronted part of the budget for the Italian.

“Toto didn’t even pay the full budget! I had to subsidise him personally. But anyway, he [Antonelli] was a special talent so I was happy to do it,” said Rosberg.

Mercedes chief recalls when the team considered Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claimed that it took him five seconds after Lewis Hamilton announced he would be leaving the team to join Ferrari to consider Antonelli as his replacement.

Chief of Communications Bradley Lord recalled how he was in a meeting with Wolff when the announcement dropped and Antonelli was testing in F3.

READ MORE: What makes Kimi Antonelli so highly rated by Mercedes?

While he has been openly courting Max Verstappen as a potential driver, Antonelli was always the main consideration for Wolff because he did not want to make the same mistake as he did with the Dutchman early on in his career.

After testing with Mercedes throughout the season in a 2022 car, Antonelli reportedly ‘surprised everyone’ due to his ability to absorb information.