Steiner: Wolff could have waited another year with Antonelli
F1 Drivers NewsMonday, 09 September 2024 at 07:30
Former Haas F1 Team principal turned media celebrity, Guenther Steiner reckons Mercedes boss Toto Wolff could've waited a year before thrusting 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli into Formula 1's deep end.
Antonelli's first big test came during the 2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend. When handed the keys to George Russell's Mercedes, the young Champion of Everything He Has-Raced pranged in a big way, with only a couple of real laps on the board and a mere ten minutes of what was the usual one-hour first free practice session.
Whichever way the Mercedes spin doctors try to spin it, in retrospect, Antonelli's debut was probably ill-timed considering the media scrum around the story throughout the media Monza weekend.
Despite the crash, Mercedes brushed away with some hilarious ripostes to disguise the reality of the failure of their young prodigy, and a day after the crash, it was announced that the Italian teenager will be Russell's teammate from 2025, replacing Lewis Hamilton, who was moving to Ferrari.
Steiner: Wolff wanted Antonelli in there because he thinks he’s ready
In his column on F1.com, Steiner wrote of Italy's New Kid On The F1 Block: It felt like it had been coming. So it wasn’t a complete surprise to see Mercedes announce their protégé Kimi Antonelli would race for them in 2025.
"He has been in the Mercedes camp for a long time, and a lot of effort has been made to get him ready for F1. Including several private F1 tests and hundreds of hours in the simulator. The opportunity came up quicker than perhaps he wished for ([Antonelli skipped F3 to race in F2 this season].
"It’s maybe a year earlier than expected, but the opportunity is there, and he has to take it. I can understand Wolff’s motivation. It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s try to do it and throw him into the cold water and see how he swims’.
"Mercedes are very good at managing expectations and will do their best to protect him from the expectation. They have trained him for a long time. He was made ready for this.
"Toto could have waited another year and put Carlos Sainz in for one year, but he wanted Kimi in there because he thinks he’s ready," ventured Steiner.
Willims F1 rookie and debutante Franco Colapinto did a fine job at Monza
On the same weekend, albeit under different circumstances, a relatively unknown Argentinian Formula 2 driver was given the call-up by Williams to replace accident-prone and fired Logan Sargeant.
The Other Lesser Hyped New Kid On The F1 Block did a solid job on the weekend he made his F1 debut, which caught Steiner's eye too: "Rookie Colapinto did an impressive job on debut for Williams as a replacement for Sargeant.
"James Vowles knows what makes a good young driver, as part of his role when he was at Mercedes was looking after junior drivers. He’s seen Franco progress through the Williams Driver Academy, and it’s clear he sees something in him, so he gave him a go to see if he’s as good as the team thinks he is.
"Franco made a great first impression at Monza. I look at the gap to his teammate rather than the race result, and he was only 13 seconds or so behind Alex. So that was a great drive from Franco. If he hadn’t made that mistake in qualifying, he could have been even closer to Alex in the race.
"He did a good job for his first race. He needs to keep it up now, which is as difficult as doing your first race," added Steiner. Colapinto became the 777rh driver to start a Grand Prix.
Steiner: Ollie was the obvious choice to stand in for him at Haas
A final word from Steiner on his former Haas team, where Oliver Bearman will replace veteran Kevin Magnussen (one race ban) at the forthcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
"Ollie was the obvious choice to stand in for him at Haas," said Steiner. "It’s also going to be a reality check. Jumping in a Ferrari is one thing; jumping in one that isn’t doing podiums is a different thing to get your head around.
"But it’s good for him to get in the car ahead of his full-time debut with the team next year. He did a great job for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, and I’m sure he’ll do a good job in Baku and then next season," added Steiner.
Ferrari-backed Bearman has been confirmed for next season by Haas to partner newcomer Esteban Ocon to the team. Current driver Magnussen is without a drive for 2025 at this stage, while Nico Hulkenberg moves to Sauber-Audi.
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