Mercedes has disclosed that George Russell’s Formula 1 promotion arriving too late inspired the choice to put a rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in its 2025 driver line-up.
At last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced the long-awaited news that Antonelli will replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in the team next season.
Antonelli, who turned 18 late last month, has been dovetailing his maiden campaign in Formula 2, where he has taken two wins, with an extensive F1 testing schedule.
The Italian’s imminent step-up to a permanent race drive will see him partner George Russell to combine two drivers who have developed through the Mercedes ranks.
When asked whether that shows that teams are now making the right decisions with F1 academies, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told media including Motorsport Week at Monza: “I think most of the credit needs to go to Gwen [Lagrue, Mercedes’ Driver Development Advisor] who manages our academy and his team, because they are able to scout from a very early age onwards.
“We as Mercedes wouldn’t have found Kimi. He was 11 years old and we saw the results on track and obviously working with the kart teams.
“But it’s amazing to see, as with George, he actually found us. Put his best suit on and went to see me in my office with a PowerPoint presentation.
“No, with Kimi it was Gwen who found Kimi. It’s good that we are now in 2024 with two Mercedes juniors who we were able to support from very early stages of their careers.
“George has ticked all the boxes and won all the championships which were necessary and the same with Kimi.”
Unlike Antonelli, whose F1 career will commence with the Silver Arrows, Russell endured three seasons towards the back with Williams before his promotion in 2022.
The Briton, who outscored team-mate Hamilton in his debut Mercedes season, has claimed that he remained at the Grove-based squad a season longer than needed.
Wolff has divulged that the choice to fast-track Antonelli straight into the works team has derived from accepting that it was too cautious with Russell’s development.
“Maybe we’ve learned a lesson that maybe George was too long at Williams,” the Austrian, 52, continued. “Some of the mistakes at Williams were less visible.”
However, Wolff has acknowledged that Antonelli’s inevitable errors – such as his FP1 crash at Monza – won’t escape the limelight in a team harbouring title ambitions.
“Now we’ve fast-tracked Kimi the mistakes are going to be more visible because it’s in a Mercedes, but we are ready to have that investment and to have these two guys,” he said.
“Full Mercedes juniors now in F1, [it] is really great to see and it’s [a] testament to the work of the junior team and today looking at the under 10s in karting.”
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