Peter Windsor believes he’s already spotted Kimi Antonelli ‘warning sign’ at Mercedes

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There is a lot of excitement around Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Formula 1 debut next season, as the young 18-year-old replaces seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

The story of Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes for rival team Ferrari has been one of the biggest in the driver market this season, with Antonelli drafted in as a replacement equally generating a lot of attention.

Teams rarely promote young talent straight into a race-winning car, with George Russell having spent a few years at Williams before he eventually got his Mercedes chance.

The Italian will be one of three rookies that will take to the grid next season alongside Oliver Bearman and Jack Doohan, with upcoming RB driver Liam Lawson also set to join them on his full-time season debut.

Antonelli is understandably seen as the next big talent for Mercedes, but Peter Windsor is worried that the team might be mismanaging him in the early stages of his career.

Peter Windsor thinks Mercedes are not correctly managing Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli suffered an embarrassing moment during his first official F1 weekend with Mercedes at Monza, after crashing during his third timed run on a set of soft tyres.

He brushed the crash off afterwards as a mistake while also apologising to the team, however, it led some to question whether Mercedes had put him on the right strategy.

Monza had recently been resurfaced and it was the first time any driver had ventured out on the new asphalt, and Antonelli was pushing early on in his run on a track that had no rubber laid down for extra grip.

Windsor believes this was a sign that potentially Mercedes is asking too much from the youngster early on in his career.

“He’s got so much raw talent, but there is a warning sign there that Mercedes are not correctly managing it and they are not getting the best from him at the right rate and the right time,” said Windsor.

What Kimi Antonelli ‘understood’ immediately during his first Mercedes F1 test

Teams are allowed to test drivers in pre-2023 cars as part of the ‘testing of previous cars’ rules, and Mercedes elected to run Antonelli in the 2021 W12 at the Red Bull Ring.

Antonelli’s first two days in an F1 car were marred by various challenges, notably having to deal with snowy conditions which led to him running in the wet.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

He was joined by his parents at the session, with Mercedes electing to run him in the 2021 car first as it was their last title-winning machine.

Antonelli admitted after the session that he was surprised at how many people were involved in running an F1 car, and understood why there are thousands of people working to get one onto the track.