Toto Wolff told he made a mistake not placing Kimi Antonelli at £981m-valued F1 team for the 2025 season

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The run-up to the Formula 1 summer break might have been tougher for Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli than any of his rivals on the grid.

After an impressive start to the season with a fourth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli has shown glimpses of why Toto Wolff was so keen to promote him into Lewis Hamilton’s seat.

Since Mercedes rejoined Formula 1 in 2010, only three drivers have occupied that side of the garage: Michael Schumacher, Hamilton and Antonelli.

It’s an incredible legacy, but one that needs to be managed carefully to not put too much pressure on the 18-year-old.

Hamilton offered words of comfort to Antonelli during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend after the Italian was eliminated in the first session of qualifying for both events at Spa.

Wolff tried to ease expectations on Antonelli before the start of the season, but it’s not easy to tell a driver that they don’t need to push to their absolute limits immediately, and on some occasions, the teenager has gone too far.

Pundit Jeroen Bleekemolen has been speaking about the 18-year-old’s first half of the 2025 season.

He thinks it would have been ‘good’ for Wolff to have tried to place Antonelli at Williams this year to give him a lower-pressure start to life in F1.

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

Toto Wolff told it would have been ‘good’ for Kimi Antonelli to have raced for Williams this season

Bleekemolen was speaking on the Paddockpraat Podcast and asked whether Mercedes should have considered loaning Antonelli to the £981m-valued Williams team, he said: “Yes, I think it would have been good for him.

“It’s always difficult to make your debut with a top team, and it’s always nice to have some time to get started and learn how Formula 1 works, what to expect, and what the pressure entails.

“Of course, the pressure is less at a smaller team, but there’s always pressure.

“So, for me, he actually needed another year, but he was so hyped up, he was portrayed as the new Max Verstappen.

“And he just had to get into a top car right away. But even Max Verstappen was put in a top car right away. And he was also young. He’s obviously very young too.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff

Why Toto Wolff wanted to avoid loaning Kimi Antonelli out after George Russell ‘regret’

There are several issues with Bleekemolen’s suggestion of sending the Italian teenager to James Vowles’ team.

Firstly, Williams had already signed up Alex Albon to a multi-year deal, and while there was some indecision about who would be in the second seat, Carlos Sainz was always their main target.

Although Logan Sargeant and later Franco Colapinto never looked like long-term solutions, Antonelli wouldn’t have been either, which doesn’t fit into the way Vowles is trying to run this team.

Not only that, but Wolff admitted his biggest regret was loaning George Russell to Williams for three years.

He didn’t necessarily think the initial loan spell was a bad idea, but leaving him with the Grove-based outfit for that long wasn’t initially in his plans.

Antonelli is under a lot of pressure, and with Mercedes having very high hopes for 2026, he only has 10 race weekends to prove he’s got what it takes to help the Silver Arrows win a championship.

Otherwise, Mercedes’ interest in Max Verstappen will surely return, forcing the young Italian to look over his shoulder while one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history bears down on him.