Nationality: Italian
Birthday: 25 August 2006
Current team: Mercedes
Previous teams: None
Number: 12
Strengths: Racepace, building a gap to the car behind, calm mentality, wet weather
Weaknesses: Tyre management, wheel-to-wheel racing, inexperience
Strongest tracks: Miami, Canada, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Hungary
Weakest tracks: Abu Dhabi, Austria, Bahrain
Statistics
Grand Prix wins: 3
Pole Positions: 3
Fastest laps: 5
Podiums: 7
World Championships: 0
F1 teammate record H2H
Total Q record: 6-22
Total R record: 6-22
| Teammate | Q record | R record |
| Russell (2025-26) | 6-22 | 6-22 |
Pre-F1 championship results
6th in Formula 2 (2024)
Won Formula Regional Europe (2023)
Won Formula Regional Middle East (2023)
Won Italian F4 (2022)
Won ADAC F4 (2022)
Career analysis
Kimi Antonelli has been considered the top prospect since Max Verstappen entered in 2015. No other talent has been hyped as much as the Italian youngster, so he was put straight into Mercedes for his 2025 debut.
Predictably, he struggled in many races and was generally far off George Russell’s pace. But Antonelli did have some highlights and showed promise for the future. His sprint race pole in Miami was impressive and the podium in Canada was a sign of things to come.
Antonelli was at his best by the end of the year where he had a solid streak of races. Interlagos was the highlight, but he also performed well in Las Vegas.
Considering his young age, there’s no doubt that Antonelli will improve over time and that Mercedes have a lot of faith in him. 2026 is probably still too early to compete for a title, but he should be able to get his first win. By 2028, he could be a top 5 driver.
As far as the junior series go, Antonelli dominated most of the series he took part in, the most impressive being his title win in the 2022 Italian F4 against a strong field of young drivers, as well as his regional titles in 2023.
Antonelli was a bit disappointing in Formula 2, but it was a strange season where cars were clearly not equal, so perhaps we shouldn’t put too much weight into it. He did manage two wins, one in a sprint and one in a feature, and he seemed quicker than teammate and fellow F1 graduate Oliver Bearman.
Antonelli is an excellent and consistent racer who can perform very well over a race distance. He has an incredible feel for the car with no major weaknesses except perhaps tyre management, which can easily be improved on. His biggest strength is maintaining and increasing gaps when he’s in front. In some ways, we see him as a prospect similar to young Sebastian Vettel, but perhaps more consistent.
