Theo Pourchaire highlights what will be ‘very difficult’ for Andrea Kimi Antonelli during debut F1 season

Follow us on Google Discover

Andrea Kimi Antonelli faces a ‘difficult’ debut Formula 1 season at Mercedes, where he will partner George Russell from 2025.

The 18-year-old will replace seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton after Mercedes finally confirmed their intentions over the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was given a run during FP1 and completed 10 minutes of running before suffering an embarrassing crash at the highspeed Parabolica right-hander.

After the crash, Antonelli confirmed that it was a 52G impact and apologised to his team after it caused setbacks for Russell during the weekend.

Former F2 driver Theo Pourchaire, who was part of the Sauber Driver Academy before making a switch to IndyCar, believes things will be difficult for Antonelli during his debut season when speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

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

Theo Pourchaire believes Andrea Kimi Antonelli needs more experience

Antonelli is highly rated among Mercedes chiefs despite the crash during practice and is expected to be able to keep up with Russell.

Mercedes chief of communications Bradley Lord claimed that it did not take Mercedes long before considering him as a replacement for Hamilton after he announced he was leaving in February.

Pourchaire, who himself knows what it is like to make the jump from F2 to F1, believes Antonelli will need time to learn before he can show his capabilities.

“There are still a lot of expectations for next year. So probably he wanted to prove too much. I think there is nothing to prove at the moment. He has the seat ready for him next year,” said Pourchaire.

“He [Antonelli] just needs to get more experience. F1 is a very difficult world and there is a lot of differences with F2, much more people to work with, much more pressure, the car is much quicker, and you have to give yourself the time to learn. You don’t have much time in F1, but you need to give yourself at least a bit of time to learn.”

Is Andrea Kimi Antonelli the best bet for Mercedes?

Although there is a lot of hype around Antonelli ahead of his F1 debut, Mercedes has made a choice based on performance and results.

Antonelli has shown his capabilities throughout his karting and junior single-seater career by winning nearly every championship he has competed in, while also showing maturity during a tough season in F2 with Prema this year.

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

Nico Rosberg part-funded Antonelli’s career in karting when he was picked up by Mercedes, because he knew how much of a talent he was at an early age.

The Italian has also been testing with Mercedes throughout the 2024 season in their 2022 car, and reportedly ‘surprised everyone’ with his abilities to absorb information and speed on track.

Comparisons have been drawn to Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc by people in the F1 paddock, as he is tipped to be one of the stars of the future.