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Toto Wolff admits three years was ‘too long’ for George Russell at Williams and that’s why Antonelli hasn’t done the same.
The weekend also saw Antonelli participate in his first-ever F1 free practice session. The session ended for the rookie after only 12 minutes due to him crashing, while on a flying lap.
However, the error didn’t cause Mercedes to hesitate with their choice. The impressive times that Antonelli showed before the crash only fuelled the decision. The Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, openly stated in a pre-race press conference, “We’d rather have a problem slowing him down than making him faster.”
Mercedes Juniors
2025 will be the first all-academy driver line-up for the Silver Arrows. George Russell also began his career as a member of Mercedes’ Junior Programme. Russell’s path, however, differed greatly from the 18-year-old’s. George Russell completed both an F3 and an F2 season, the latter he won and although he won his F2 season in 2018, he was placed into the Williams Racing F1 team for 2019 rather than the Mercedes. He then spent three years in the Mercedes ‘second’ team.
This decision was partly a necessity. Mercedes wanted George on the grid, and eventually, if he performed, in their F1 seat. However, at the time they didn’t have a seat available with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton as their line-up. The decision was also made because of the risk of putting a rookie into a top team. So Russell sat at Williams, maturing as a driver, waiting for an availability.
With Kimi Antonelli, Toto Wolff and Mercedes have done the complete opposite. Antonelli skipped F3 and is in his rookie season of F2 where he is currently sixth in the standings. Yet, next year he will not have to bide his time in the Williams, instead making the jump straight into one of the top teams for his rookie season. Again, this comes from the opportunity that arose because of Hamilton’s surprise departure from Mercedes and the seat it left open.
What changed post-Russell?
Toto Wolff spoke to F1 TV about how he learnt from Russell’s journey:
“Obviously maybe we’ve learned the lesson, George was maybe too long at Williams.”
Wolff recognised that three years was too long for a junior such as Russell, hence why they aren’t rushing to repeat the same course of action with Antonelli. However, the Silver Arrows team principal also noted the positives of starting your F1 career at a backmarker team.
He said, “George did some of the mistakes at Williams where he was not so visible. Now we’ve fast-tracked Kimi, mistakes are going to be more visible because it’s in a Mercedes.”
Like in the free practice session at Monza, Kimi Antonelli is going to make mistakes. Toto Wolff and the Mercedes team are prepared for that, but they believe the positives will outweigh the negatives.
Antonelli’s future teammate, George Russell, also agreed with the sentiments of the Silver Arrows. He admitted, “When I look back to when I was 18 years old, there’s so obviously much to learn,” Though he noted, “As a driver, you have the speed or you don’t have the speed, and I’m very confident Kimi has the speed.”
“I think everybody on their journey is going to make mistakes, and that’s part of life and part of this sport. I’ve no doubt Kimi’s going to learn from [his FP1 at Monza].
“He’s definitely got the speed to help Mercedes get back to the front of the grid for next year onwards. That’s exactly why he’s going to be in the car alongside me next year.”
Hopes for 2025
Kimi Antonelli will be the youngest of the rookies on the grid in 2025, joining Ollie Bearman and Jack Doohan. However, it seems his expectations are the highest. The Italian driver has a junior career to support the claims made about his talent and 2025 will be his opportunity to prove putting him straight into the Mercedes was the right decision.
Feature Image Credit: Jiri Krenek, Mercedes AMG F1 Team