Nico Rosberg says it all about Kimi Antonelli: "He took a risk, it was a disaster"

Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg at the High Performance podcast revealed a 2025 backstory on Andrea Kimi Antonelli. According to reports from the former German driver, the driver from Bologna was one step away from being fired, “As a young driver you know that you really only have one opportunity. If you fail in the first year and they send you away, 95 percent of your F1 career is over. And that’s exactly what he experienced last year.”

“Kimi was really on a knife’s edge, a 50-50 split on whether the team would confirm him or lay him off. It was literally a matter of a whisker,” Rosberg continued.

“Without knowing it from the inside, just looking at it from the outside, it was really in the balance. Because it was so difficult to know if he was really going to be able to turn things around and perform at a level sufficient to deserve to stay in F1 and with Mercedes.”

“What he was doing was really disastrous. Mistakes, lack of pace and things like that, it was constant suffering. And so, as a young driver, you know very well that your chance is now, and it might be the only one. It was very difficult to know if he would really be able to turn things around and perform at a sufficient level to deserve to stay in F1 and with Mercedes.”

Antonelli’s future remains firmly tied to Mercedes, despite rumors of possible interest from Ferrari. The driver himself, on the sidelines of the Bandini Trophy presentation in Brisighella, kept a door open while reiterating his priorities: “I am very happy at Mercedes and I aim to win a lot with this team. They have given me a chance since I was a child, accompanying me through all the stages of my career since then. I feel indebted to them.”