LEWIS HAMILTON’S replacement at Mercedes could be 17-year-old Italian sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The teenage wonderkid has been a part of the Silver Arrows’ junior programme since 2019 and is moving quickly through the ranks.
And now eyes are on him more than ever following the revelation that seven-time world champion Hamilton is set to join Ferrari in 2025.
After impressing in F4 last year, Antonelli has been promoted straight to F2 for the 2024 season.
He also has a personal relationship with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff as his family are close to the Austrian businessman.
An impressive debut year in F2 could convince Mercedes to take a chance on him in 2025 when Hamilton looks set to depart.
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But he does face competition from other drivers in the frame including Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher and Alex Albon.
And while Wolff has spoken glowingly about Antonelli’s talents, he has also urged caution when it comes to the speed of his development.
He said: “We got Kimi under the wings in 2012 and he was a great kid already then.
“You could see the character [and] he was strong. We had him in the garage and there was a lot of confidence.
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“In go-karting his track record was immense and then you put him in the junior formulas and he wins every single season in his rookie year.
“But we’ve got to be careful because there’s a lot of hype around him.
“Putting him into F2 is a big step because those cars are heavier and much more powerful.
“If we give him his time and don’t expect him to be killing it in his first season, I think he can be a really great one in this sport.
“He’s 17 – this is so young.”
CHILD PRODIGY
Antonelli started karting at just seven years of age and quickly began winning.
This culminated in him claiming back-to-back CIK-FIA Karting European Championship titles in 2020 and 2021.
Rising through the ranks at a rapid rate, he made his Italian F4 Championship debut for Prema in Italy at just 15 years old.
And he claimed the best rookie award in his first race, scoring four points over the course of the weekend.
But he began attracting much more attention when he won for the first time at Monza.
He ended up securing 10th place in the championship despite not having featured for much of the season.
F4 championship success and skipping F3
In 2022 he claimed his first drivers’ championship, clinching the Italian F4 Championship title in Mugello.
Since then, he has gone on to claim a host more titles.
These include the ADAC Formula 4 Championship, Formula Regional Middle East Championship and Formula Regional European Championship.
Such is the success Antonelli has enjoyed in F4, it has since been confirmed he will bypass F3 and move straight into F2.
He will continue with Prema Racing as Mercedes monitor his progress closely.
Racing in his blood
Antonelli is following in the footsteps of his father Marco – who was also a racing driver.
In 2002, he competed in two races in the European Touring Car Championships, placing seventh in the first and retiring in the other.
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Marco is also the owner of the F4 team AKM Motorsport team.
This means his outfit were competing against Andrea during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
