Andrea Kimi Antonelli, known commonly as Kimi, became the youngest driver on the 2025 F1 grid, partnering George Russell at Mercedes.
Antonelli’s impressive junior career convinced Mercedes boss Toto Wolff of his talent, the young Italian having won multiple junior karting and racing championships. He became a member of the Mercedes junior team in 2019.
2022 saw Antonelli take the championship in both Italian and ADAC F4, and 2023 the top spot in the Formula Regional Middle East and European series.
In 2024, he partnered current Haas driver Oliver Bearman in F2 with Prema, having made the jump directly from FRECA to one step below the top tier of single-seater racing. He finished sixth with two race wins.
He made his first F1 session outing in Monza that same year, and impressed many with his pace before he crashed. Despite concern he might not yet be ready for F1, Wolff remained confident in the young driver and he was announced as Russell’s team-mate for the upcoming 2025 season that same weekend - replacing Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in its driver line-up.
2025 – Mercedes
7th – 156 points
The driver selected to take Lewis Hamilton’s vacated spot at Mercedes would’ve been enough pressure, but to do it as an F1 rookie aged 18 heaped the burden on Antonelli.
It was a season with major peaks and dips, as a stellar charge to fourth place on his grand prix debut in Australia stunned the paddock, followed up by his sprint race pole in Miami.
An overwhelming first home race at Imola somewhat undid that momentum, but a maiden podium swiftly followed with third in Canada. However, at the same race Mercedes installed a new rear suspension package which destroyed his confidence in the W16, leaving him in a malaise until the package was reneged and Antonelli moved out of the spotlight at the conclusion of the European stretch of the season.
After that, Antonelli’s results picked up again, with a stunning showing in Brazil with second place in both the sprint and the grand prix. A further rostrum followed in Las Vegas, albeit only after both McLaren drivers were disqualified for excessive plank wear, which gave Antonelli an outside shot of beating Hamilton in the final drivers’ standings.
He narrowly missed out to the Ferrari driver by six points, but overall demonstrated his credentials and why Mercedes put so much faith in him.
