Up until 2024’s British Grand Prix weekend, there was only a concept of Andrea Kimi Antonelli among the majority of those in the Formula 1 media. An image. There was, among the more learned journalists in the paddock, knowledge of his results – ADAC and Italian F4 titles, followed by the Formula Regional European Championship crown – but few had seen him race.
And when they did, as Antonelli emerged on F1’s undercard in 2024 with a Prema drive in F2, few had heard him speak. That was largely by design; knowing that Antonelli had been touted as the next generational talent in F1, Mercedes wanted to ensure that the young Italian was kept protected from the more capricious side of publicity. This was understandable; the jump from FRECA to F2 was already sizeable and came without the intermediate step of F3, as Mercedes presumably felt that a year in ‘The Series Formerly Known as GP3’ would be a wasted expense.
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