Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has estimated a timeframe for the team’s rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s full development as a Formula 1 driver.
The Italian teenager has made an impressive start to life as an F1 driver, taking 63 points in the first 10 rounds to sit in seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship.
Antonelli’s progression has seen some significant milestones already, including a pole position for the Sprint Race in Miami and his first podium last time out in Canada.
His place in the team has perhaps been made more impressive given that it had belonged, for 11 years, to Lewis Hamilton, placing added spotlight on his first steps in the sport.
But Wolff, talking to Bloomberg’s ‘Hot Pursuit!’ podcast, said that the German marque’s talent-spotters are of a high standard, and indicated Antonelli’s talented had been recognised from a very tender age.
“Kimi’s been in our junior programme since he was 11, and you can today recognise talent – I would say from the age of 10 – when kids start to compete in international go-karting series,” he said.
“We have a good group of scouts in our Mercedes-Benz junior programme, and that’s important. In a way, it works like soccer academies or tennis academies that identify talent very early on.”
Wolff added that another big sign of Antonelli’s talent from that age was his ability to outperform competitors who were older than him.
“If a kid starts at the age of eight and is already competitive against older children, that’s a good indication,” Wolff added.
“If that child wins the championship a year younger than everybody else, that’s another good indication. And Kimi has been winning throughout these categories. That’s very exceptional.”
A realistic timeframe for Antonelli
Unlike other teams that might be less inclined to give rookies sufficient time to adapt to F1, Wolff believes that Antonelli’s biggest obstacle is the high standard of drivers on the grid.
The Austrian has also taken into account the number of circuits that Antonelli has driven, or will drive, for the first time, and believes three years is a realistic amount of time for him to fully integrate into the sport.
“With Kimi, he doesn’t know all of the circuits – it was his first time in Montreal – so you start with a massive disadvantage,” he said. “But the car was good, and he was able to be fast.”
Wolff added: “Yes, you probably need to look at a three-year programme and say that’s the time needed for a young driver to challenge the more experienced team-mates – that are also super fast.
“I mean, George [Russell] today is among the best drivers in Formula 1. And that’s something you need to give young drivers time.
“You need to accept there will be difficult weekends, underperformance – but that’s just part of how it goes.”
Red Bull and Alpine are prime examples of teams that have shown comparatively less patience with their younger drivers, with many being shown the door with new ones coming in.
Wolff conveyed his disagreement with this sort of policy, and said Antonelli will be given enough time to prove his worth.
“I think when you take the right decision in terms of talent, you must be very conscious of who you’re putting in the car,” he said.
“And if that young driver shows a lot of promise, you also need to give them time to develop. That’s what we’re doing with Kimi.
“There were lots of voices that said, ‘How can you put an 18-year-old in a car?’ Especially in a Mercedes – it’s not like competing in a smaller team where you’re under the radar. You’re being catapulted into a seat where people expect you to be on the podium or win races.
“That’s been our philosophy. We wouldn’t give anyone a seat if we didn’t think they could be a champion of the future.”
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