What Kimi Antonelli did during his first Mercedes F1 test that left his engineers really ‘excited’

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Mercedes are currently hard at work behind the scenes, preparing one of the most exciting young talents in recent memory for his Formula 1 debut.

Few drivers have arrived in Formula 2 with as much fanfare as Kimi Antonelli.

The 18-year-old Italian was a superstar in FRECA and completely bypassed F3 to cling to the rung on the motorsport ladder just below F1.

Not only that, but he was inserted into Prema’s racing team by Mercedes alongside Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman – a team that have a reputation for developing the best and brightest young talents and preparing them for Formula 1.

Unfortunately, his time with Prema hasn’t been quite as successful as expected, with the Italian team struggling to get to grips with the new car immediately this season.

It’s meant that Antonelli has just two race wins to his name this year, although he’s faring much better than Bearman who will be glad to already have an F1 seat secured for next year with Haas.

Antonelli is in a similar position having been selected by Mercedes as their replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

In a report from Motorsport.com, more details about his first test in a Formula 1 car have emerged.

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

The teenager’s first public outing for Mercedes came at the Italian Grand Prix and less than ten minutes into the FP1 session, his run was already over.

Antonelli pushed extremely hard and found the barriers before the end of his second flying lap.

His time behind the wheel of some of Mercedes’s older F1 cars has been much more successful away from the spotlight of an official timed session and left many of his engineers very impressed.

Kimi Antonelli already impressing in behind-the-scenes Mercedes Formula 1 tests

Antonelli immediately understood the scale of the challenge ahead of him when he first stepped into Mercedes’s F1 car during his first test at the Red Bull Ring.

The conditions were initially snowy, something most F1 drivers never experience during their time in the sport.

It meant the young Italian only did a few laps on his first stint, before driving in the rain towards the end of the day.

He had a short briefing after his first run with his engineers and was able to give ‘quiet and precise answers’ to their questions about the car and his initial outing.

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

The report then goes on to say that Antonelli made the engineers ‘smile among themselves’, particularly Mercedes’s head of the test team Ricciardo Musconi, by the end of his second run.

Antonelli was then shown images from his onboard camera and was once again able to provide immediate feedback on what he was seeing.

“Here, I think I’ve gone too far,” Antonelli acknowledged at one point, leaving the engineers to nod in agreement.

Why David Coulthard is backing Kimi Antonelli for 2025

Antonelli is one of three rookies who know they’ll be on the Formula 1 grid next year alongside Bearman and Jack Doohan.

They each come into F1 with different expectations and very different backgrounds, with Bearman already having a couple of Grand Prix under his belt, while Doohan hasn’t raced competitively this year.

David Coulthard believes Antonelli is the best-prepared rookie for next year due to his testing program.

Antonelli has a very tough challenge in 2025 being compared to George Russell at Mercedes.

Russell is a race winner and has plenty to prove as he looks to fill the void left by Lewis Hamilton, and he’ll know that defeating Antonelli is the only way he can guarantee his contract is extended beyond next year.