{"id":274843,"date":"2025-11-10T19:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/274843\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:58:14","slug":"why-andrea-kimi-antonellis-strongest-f1-results-have-come-at-tracks-he-doesnt-know-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/274843\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s strongest F1 results have come at tracks he doesn’t know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toto Wolff explained why the highlights of Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/a>\u2019s rookie Formula 1 season have all come at unfamiliar circuits after he finished second at the Brazilian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

That was the 19-year-old\u2019s second podium of 2025<\/a>, after taking third place in Canada, with the other positive highlight of Antonelli\u2019s campaign being when the Mercedes<\/a> driver took pole for the Miami sprint race.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

But those are three tracks he hadn\u2019t previously raced at and usually one would expect a rookie to be stronger around the circuits they visited during their days in the junior formulas.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t been the case for Antonelli though, because across the nine mid-season European rounds, he only claimed two point-scores amid a very up-and-down season for the Italian who is seventh in the standings.<\/p>\n

His positive results have been marred by several crashes and needless mistakes, while he even admitted to not coping with the pressure at his home race in Imola – from which he retired<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

So Mercedes boss Wolff thinks not experiencing such adulation from fans at non-European rounds has actually helped Antonelli, who held off a late charge from Max Verstappen<\/a> at Interlagos to keep second.<\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG\"Andrea<\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG<\/p>\n

\u201cAll weekend he was strong,\u201d said Wolff, as Antonelli also finished second in the Sao Paulo sprint. \u201cMaybe it was coming to a track that he didn’t know – it’s a bit easier.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cExpectations are maybe lower. Maybe pressure is not as high as some of the Europeans and then the execution was faultless at the end: being able to fend off Max on a newer and softer tyre, well that was really strong and testament to what’s to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

F1 has perhaps been Antonelli\u2019s first time against superior opposition, given he has a supreme junior record with four titles across 2022 and 2023 which led to him being fast-tracked into F2.<\/p>\n

He has a particularly strong team-mate in George Russell<\/a> and Wolff thinks that could be another factor in how Antonelli has just needed time to adjust to the premiere series.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s also managing his own expectations, he’s so young, he’s just 19 years old,\u201d said Wolff.\u00a0 \u201cYou come to a track where you know you’ve performed very well in the past, some of the European ones, and then on the back foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a sensational team-mate that is as good as it gets, and I think coming to a track that you don’t know is almost like less pressure, your expectations are lower, everybody else’s expectations are lower, the kind of fan pressure is less than on some of the European tracks, and I think that plays a big role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes\"Andrea<\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n

There was even debate over Antonelli\u2019s future for 2026, as talk of Verstappen joining Mercedes was strife during the summer until the four-time world champion publicly committed to Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Antonelli has since had his contract renewed and Wolff insisted that the extension was always part of the plan, having never doubted the youngster even during his poor form midseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always confident he’s going to get the necessary grip, that’s why it was always clear that Kimi is going to stay with us next year,\u201d said Wolff.\u00a0 \u201cSo there was no doubt that with these complicated cars, the management of the tyres is something that you need to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that respect, that’s a great result. One of the good days. Like I said, there were many more difficult [occasions], but there was not a single moment of doubt in how he’s coming, but I always try to dampen the expectations on him.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Italians talked about the legend Kimi Antonelli after Montreal, after Miami, and that’s an additional pressure. So let’s keep both feet on the ground. He was second, he fended off Max today, that was very impressive, but we want to win races and fight for championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Winners and losers from F1’s pulsating Brazil Grand Prix <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Did Oscar Piastri deserve penalty for Brazil GP clash? Our writers have their say <\/a><\/p>\n

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff explained why the highlights of Andrea Kimi Antonelli\u2019s rookie Formula 1 season have all come at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[3032,16007,49,48,578,576,577,1885,1881,102125,82,4503],"class_list":{"0":"post-274843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","9":"tag-antonelli","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-f1","13":"tag-formula-1","14":"tag-formula1","15":"tag-max-verstappen","16":"tag-mercedes","17":"tag-mercedes-amg","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-toto-wolff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}