Valtteri Bottas tells Kimi Antonelli what ‘won’t be easy’ during his debut Mercedes season

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The beginning of the 2024 Formula 1 season was the first time the grid had looked identical to the final race of the previous campaign.

Eddie Jordan criticised all ten F1 teams for not giving a rookie a chance and it wasn’t long until a young driver made their way onto the grid.

Oliver Bearman’s cameo in Saudi Arabia for Ferrari played a role in him earning a full-time seat at Haas in 2025 and he’ll deputise for the American team for the first time in Baku after Kevin Magnussen was banned for picking up too many penalty points.

Bearman won’t be the only rookie on the grid in 2025 with Jack Doohan at Alpine and Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes also making the step up.

They could yet to be joined by Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto depending on RB and Sauber’s final decisions on their line-ups, but the most focus is likely to be on the 18-year-old Italian.

Antonelli is the only youngest being immediately placed in what could be a race-winning car and Valtteri Bottas was speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast about how the teenager’s maiden campaign could go.

READ MORE: Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Bottas is very familiar with the inner workings of Toto Wolff’s team having been Lewis Hamilton’s teammate for five seasons.

He’s now explained what Antonelli can expect to happen when he becomes a full-time F1 driver and what Mercedes will need to help him with before he takes part in his first Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas offers advice to Kimi Antonelli ahead of Mercedes F1 debut

Asked about Antonelli’s promotion, Bottas said: “I think they’ve already shown lots of support for him. I think he’s had good preparation and will have good preparation for his first season.

“Obviously, he’s very young, he doesn’t yet have much experience from single-seaters. That’s a fact, so it’s not going to be easy.

“It’s going to be lots of new things he needs to adapt to and learn. The amount of people he will be working with, the amount of information he will be getting this year and especially when he starts racing next year.

“Initially, it’s a bit of a shock, but like I said, I’m sure they will prepare him as well as possible.

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

“Nowadays with the simulator, I think he’s done quite a bit of testing with all the cars as well, so as a driver, you always take that kind of opportunity.

“If I was Kimi, no doubt, of course, you go for it, but in this sport, there’s always an element of risk. In this case, both for Kimi, because he will need to deliver, he’s in a big team and that’s what they’re expecting.

“But the same thing for Mercedes. If they have a race-winning car, they want to get the points with both cars. So that’s the name of the game.”

How Carlos Sainz Sr reacted to Kimi Antonelli’s Monza crash

Antonelli arrived in Formula 2 at the beginning of the season with a serious reputation already.

He’s won every major series he has raced in and Mercedes decided he should skip Formula 3 altogether to get him racing as closely with F1 as possible.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Mercedes AMG F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Unfortunately, his Prema team have struggled although Antonelli is well clear of teammate Bearman in the Drivers’ Championship.

Antonelli was thrust onto the main stage at Monza after being handed his first FP1 outing by Mercedes ahead of being confirmed as Hamilton’s replacement for next year.

However, Antonelli pushed way too hard on his second lap and ended up crashing, ending his session and making George Russell squirm in the garage as he waited to see how much damage was done to his car.

Carlos Sainz Sr was far from impressed with Antonelli’s efforts and he’ll want to get back in the car as quickly as possible to put that mistake behind him.