In the midst of a rollercoaster rookie season in F1, rumours of a possible loan move for Kimi Antonelli emerged after it looked like the young Italian was feeling the pressure that comes with driving for Mercedes.
Speaking exclusively to F1 Oversteer, the voice of F1 TV’s coverage, Alex Jacques, talked about the reasons why Mercedes boss Toto Wolff ruled out a possible loan move, revealing that the team principal was previously ‘stung’ by past loan deals going south.
Antonelli is waiting to sign a new deal with Mercedes, after signing a one-year rookie deal with the team to replace the outgoing Lewis Hamilton in the middle of last season.
Martin Brundle questioned Wolff’s decision to put Antonelli straight into the works Mercedes team, wondering why Wolff didn’t go down the same route as he did with George Russell, in giving him a few years to get to grips with the pace of F1 before putting him into a competitive seat.
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Toto Wolff was ‘stung’ by losing out on Max Verstappen and a team reneging on an Esteban Ocon deal in 2019
Speaking to F1 Oversteer, Jacques gave his reasoning for Brundle’s question, highlighting a past loan deal for Esteban Ocon that fell through, as well as the elusive signature of Max Verstappen that Wolff has been vying for since 2015.
“I think he was very stung by missing out on Max Verstappen,” Jacques started. “He was only in his second year as a team principal in 2015, and he got outflanked.
“Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes were all in for Max Verstappen, and Red Bull had the junior team. They could elevate him to Formula 1 immediately, and Wolff lost out on Max Verstappen, who’s gone on to win the most races of the decade so far.
SERIESRACESWINSPOLESPODIUMSPOS.Italian F4201314151stADAC F41597121stFR Europe2054111stFR Middle East153371stF2262046thKimi Antonelli’s racing record between 2022 and 2024
“So, he’s been stung by that in the past. So, I think that informed his faith in giving a young driver a chance earlier on. And then you mentioned a loan deal with another team.
“He’s been stung by that in the past as well, with Esteban Ocon, who had to sit on the sidelines for a year after a team reneged on an agreement that Wolff believed they had, and he lost out on a year of racing as a result of that; he had to be a reserve at Mercedes.”
Wolff has tried several times to sign Verstappen, with it previously being reported that the Austrian was in pursuit of the Dutchman during the winter break between the 2020 and 2021 season. If Wolff was successful at the time, F1 may have missed out on one of the most intense title fights in its history.
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Both of those deals going south ‘played an enormous part’ on Toto Wolff wanting to keep Kimi Antonelli
With 2026 bringing new regulations to F1, Jacques’ understanding of Wolff’s intentions is to get a year of F1 experience under the 18-year-old’s belt before starting afresh alongside the new regs to give him the best opportunity of competing from the get-go next year.
“So, I think both of those things played an enormous part. We know Kimi Antonelli is a hugely rated prospect, and realistically, conversations in the paddock always talk about the next big thing,” Jacques continued.
“So, Kimi Antonelli had been on the radar of the paddock for a long time. Mercedes got him first, okay? They got him signed to the Driver Academy. But as we’ve seen with drivers and driver’s academies in the past, that’s no guarantee either.
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images
“So, I think the combination of everything I’ve spoken about meant that Toto Wolff was absolutely determined that there would be no repeat; he didn’t want to have to deal with another team.
“He wanted one year, I believe, of Antonelli learning the ropes, ready for the big regulation reset with a year of experience.
“He’s had a huge amount of testing with old Mercedes machinery as well. And I think all of that informed his desire to vault him up the ladder far quicker than you would do if Lewis Hamilton had been a long-term contract, for example.”
The young Italian will have his sights set on Monza as a track where he can regain some confidence in himself after he crashed Russell’s W15 just ten minutes into his first F1 practice session at the circuit last year.
Jacques previously stated that Mercedes ‘regret’ what happened that day, as the team chose to run Antonelli on a set of soft compound tyres to get him on the limit as quickly as possible.