What makes Kimi Antonelli so highly rated by Mercedes?

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Ever since he was announced as part of their Junior Academy in 2019, Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been one of the most hotly anticipated drivers to make a Formula 1 debut.

There has not been this amount of hype around a driver since Max Verstappen made his Friday practice debut for Toro Rosso with Red Bull in 2014, and back then we all knew that he was one of the stars of the future.

Despite his rather embarrassing crash in front of his home crowd at Monza on his FP1 debut, Antonelli has a considerable amount of support among confidants at Mercedes while those in the F1 paddock have compared him to Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

What makes him a stand-out driver from the rest? And why has Mercedes decided to gamble on an 18-year-old whose best accolade up to now is a title in Formula Regional European and Italian Formula 4?

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

Where does Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s ‘astonishing’ speed come from?

Wolff was still singing Antonelli’s praises in the team principal’s press conference a couple of hours after his FP1 crash, claiming: “What we saw in 1.5 laps is astonishing.”

While it might be a bit of hyperbole on his part, Wolff is right in his assessment. Antonelli admitted that he pushed the tyres too hard and too early on in his run on the newly resurfaced track, but his confidence comes from a deep-rooted trait that most drivers at his level do not have.

A video posted to social media by his Prema team recently showed how he could recall nearly every time from each session he’s ever posted on track, at any circuit he has raced at in his junior single-seater career.

It’s the sort of thing you expect from an F1 anorak but for a driver, it’s a useful tool in helping determine the track conditions and get straight to work in honing the car setup.

That’s not to say that Antonelli does not need to build up his confidence but during his two timed runs at Monza, the apex speeds through the second Lesmo was nearly 15kph quicker than what Verstappen managed in the entire session.

The only thing that was lacking on Antonelli’s part was knowledge of the sensitive Pirelli tyres, which overheated on the hot track surface and led to his crash. But the speed was there and enough to convince Wolff that it was not anything to be concerned about.

“We are running fully conscious [heading] into these driver decisions, fully conscious of what can happen, what to expect and managing the expectations,” said Wolff.

“Clearly, here with everything piling up on him in Monza, that’s very difficult to cope with. Is that the reason why he put it in the wall? Maybe. I look at driving performance. I’d rather slow somebody down than make him fast, because the second one is impossible.”

Toto Wolff’s fear of missing out on another Max Verstappen-level talent

Although it has not been the easiest season in Formula 2 for Antonelli, owing to Prema’s struggles with the new car for this year, there have been shades of brilliance from the youngster.

His win during the Silverstone Sprint Race was controlled well in the testing conditions, while a Feature Race victory in Hungary showed that he is capable of bringing in the results with the pit stops thrown in as a curve ball.

Antonelli has also shown he can deal with the pressure of being a championship favourite while honing in on his race craft. His overtake through Eau Rouge in the greasy conditions during the Spa F2 Feature Race on newly appointed Williams driver, Franco Colapinto, was one of those defining moments that get the F1 paddock talking just as they did when Lewis Hamilton went from last to second in GP2 (now F2) at Turkey in 2006.

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It is an opportunity for Wolff to rectify his mistake of not signing Verstappen during his impressive European F3 season. After trying to court the Dutchman at the start of the year, Antonelli was always going to be his fallback plan should Red Bull be tricky.

Curiously, Mercedes made no mention of the contact length in Antonelli’s announcement, suggesting they are keeping their options open if his promotion to the big team turns out to be too early. Carlos Sainz is a potential option at Williams, who use Mercedes engines, should Antonelli not meet their performance targets midway through the season.

But whatever happens, Mercedes and Wolff think they are on for a winner in the future with Antonelli. For F1, it is another feel-good story about a promising talent getting his shot at the big league.