Toto Wolff is not too worried about Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s statement regarding ‘not being ready for F1’, as he adds on being not in a hurry.
Having had a difficult start to his rookie F2 campaign, the self doubts in Antonelli is certain to creep in. He has scored points and even scored couple of wins, but that type of ‘domination’ that was hyped, it hasn’t come off as yet.
It is a reality check for the young Italian, who is hugely linked to a Mercedes F1 drive. And the pressure of it is certainly taking a toll on him. The eyes are on him and when asked if he is ready for the pinnacle of motor racing, there wasn’t a direct yes.
“I don’t know if I will be ready, to be honest, I’m still learning a lot in F2,” said Antonelli in Hungary. “I definitely still make a lot of mistakes and the details that really matter, I’m still not doing everything right. I just want to be honest.”
Despite no domination and struggles for Prema and even his teammate Oliver Bearman, Antonelli has done well for himself in seventh with 87 points. Mercedes chief Wolff is brushed off the statement made by the Italian about not being ready.
He has praise for the step he is taking slowly and the improvements he’s showing. “Kimi has done a good job [lately],” said Wolff to media. “That was a dominant win in Hungary, two different tyre compounds, he was really strong and it was deserved. We have never doubted his pace and it is about really learning.
“He had such a fast development but it is about learning tyre management and all these things. That’s why the races in Hungary was a statement. In a way we sometimes forget how stupid you were at 17. I can tell you clearly my lack of maturity wouldn’t allow me to make clear decisions in such a highly competitive field.
“In two years, this would not happen. So what I would like to see from him is do mistakes, learn from them and continue to guide the team to improve the performance for Prema. Tyre management, reading the race, reading the tyre and all of that, he has done so far.
“Now we are ready to see if he can concentrate in on that level, but in F2 it is always difficult to judge. What we see in data from the F1 test is encouraging,” summed up Wolff. While the decision looms over the second seat at Mercedes, there is no shortage of drivers.
They can rule out Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon, who were mostly distant names anyways. But within, they do have Frederik Vesti and Mick Schumacher, both of whom have their own racing ongoing along with the regular simulator work.
Even though Wolff has praise for them, there is little chance for them to drive a Mercedes F1 car in 2025 for now. “When it comes to Fred, he has done the job but there is just
no opportunity in Formula 1 at the moment and he will be a professional racing driver that drives on a high level, whether it’s endurance or elsewhere – and he’s a top guy on top of that,” said the Austrian.
“I couldn’t say a bad word about Mick, either doing a great job for the team, supporting us in the simulator. They are the unsung heroes because you can see how they spend their nights, Friday to Saturday, in their simulator work. Mick also deserves a seat. Really lucky they are part of the family,” summed up Wolff.
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