Kimi Antonelli insists he is ready to compete in F1 despite facing a “brutal” challenge with his new Mercedes team.
Antonelli was chosen as Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, aged just 18 years and is one of three of the five rookies on the 2025 grid never to have started a grand prix – the others being Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.
The Italian protege has been given extensive testing in previous cars (TPC) by Mercedes, including in the 2022 W13 machine to bring him up to speed with ground-effects cars as he prepares to partner George Russell.
Despite the hype around him, having been dubbed the ‘next Max Verstappen’ by some, Antonelli insists he is keeping his feet on the ground and will approach the season his way.
“It is not going to be easy, because it is my first year in F1 and at the end of the day, I’m racing against the best 19 drivers in the world,” Antonelli told Sky Sports.
“The world of motorsport, and Formula 1 especially, can be very brutal at times, but the thing is, I am just going to try and stay focused on myself, trying to work day-to-day, weekend-by-weekend and trying to improve.
“Of course the mindset is going to be to try and win, but I have good people around me in this moment and they will really help me ignore the external things in order to be focused on the moment.
“I feel like I am just a new Mercedes driver and I’m saying that replacing Lewis Hamilton, I don’t think it is correct as he’s such a big figure and done so much that I feel like I am just the next Mercedes driver.
“I really want to make my way, achieve great results and be successful.”
