Why Toto Wolff feared Kimi Antonelli would be ‘contaminated’ if he joined Williams before Mercedes

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Kimi Antonelli will become one of the youngest drivers in Formula 1 history when he makes his debut for Mercedes at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Mercedes announced at his home race in Italy that he would be succeeding the iconic Lewis Hamilton next year.

Antonelli will be 18 years, six months and 20 days old when he lines up for his first race start in Melbourne. Only Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll started at a younger age.

Wolff sees Antonelli as his very own Verstappen, but Hamiton’s departure appears to have accelerated his career timeline. Rather than continuing in Formula 2 for another year or even racing in F1’s midfield, he will immediately represent a front-runner.

Mercedes’ 2024 performances suggest they’re unlikely to be in title contention next year, with minimal changes to the regulations. But they may be in a position to compete for multiple race wins.

No driver has taken victory in his rookie season since Hamilton himself in 2007. He started out at the iconic McLaren team, a point many have made when comparing the two drivers.

There are signs that Antonelli is still predictably raw. He ranks sixth in F2 after an inconsistent campaign, and he crashed just 10 minutes into his first FP1 outing at Monza.

Toto Wolff didn’t want Kimi Antonelli to pick up bad habits at Williams

Antonelli’s 2025 teammate George Russell spent three years at Williams before he completed his ascent up the Mercedes ranks. He replaced Valtteri Bottas ahead of the 2022 season.

While Russell would no doubt have been impatient, he was unquestionably ready by the time he graduated. He immediately outscored Hamilton and could do so again in 2024.

Mercedes supply engines to Williams and the two teams share a close relationship. But speaking to Autosprint, via RacingNews365, Wolff explained why Antonelli didn’t follow Russell’s path.

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

The concern was that he would arrive at Mercedes ‘contaminated’ having taken on a different ‘behaviour’ under James Vowles. Wolff would sooner mould the Italian himself.

“The reason that Antonelli is driving a Mercedes straight away and not making his debut with Williams first is because you want him fresh, not contaminated, if you can say so, by external experiences,” he said.

“If he were to go to another team first, he would learn different things, behaviour, have different understandings of technical matters than us. We want to avoid that. I think it only brings advantages to have a young guy with you straight away.”

Karun Chandhok thinks Mercedes are ‘protecting’ Kimi Antonelli after what he saw

It should be said that Vowles wouldn’t necessarily have taken Antonelli. Having signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari and extended Alex Albon’s contract, he’s boasted about having the best driver line-up on the grid.

Much as he may be a friend of Wolff, Vowles wouldn’t want to train up Antonelli for Mercedes. If his stay was short-term, then it’s unlikely Williams would have seen the best him, and they would have been forced back into the market before 2026.

Antonelli has prepared for his rookie year with extensive testing in the 2022 Mercedes. While an announcement only arrived at the end of August, it had been clear for months beforehand that he was the favourite.

Mercedes are ‘protecting’ Antonelli, Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok says, while he builds up his confidence and experience. He noted that the team leadership ‘put their arm around him’ after his Monza crash, rather than reacting angrily.