Kimi Antonelli in Mercedes: from Lando Norris the first warning

Even before the debut, already comes a first warning.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli will drive the official Mercedes in the 2025 Formula 1 championship, sharing the pits with George Russell and inheriting the single-seater from Lewis Hamilton, who will instead move to Ferrari. This is no small act of esteem for a driver who is just 18 years old, so much so that fellow driver Lando Norris has already decided to warn him of the possible difficulties he will face in the premier class of motor racing.

"He comes to Formula 1 because heé probably è good enough to do it. Toto Wolff then bets a great deal on him,” were Norris’ thoughts on Antonelli, gathered by 'Racing News' -But he will have to learn a lot and fast, his learning curve will be more impervious than the one faced by most of us all.

"Antonelli has shown his qualitiesà in the youth categories, and the jump from F4 to F2 è already has been a very important challenge. In F1 he will go under colossal pressures, but he will have Russell by his side who è one of the best in the grid. If he manages himself well and knows how to learn, I think he can keep up", Norris continued.

È it is only fair to mention that Norris è was also an extremely precocious driver: born on November 13, 1999, since 2019 è starting driver of McLaren with which he therefore played the first Grand Prix just 19 years old. An age, therefore, slightly higher than the one that Antonelli will have when he makes his debut in Mercedes next season.