Outside Line: Wolff and Mercedes hit the jackpot with Antonelli

The Mercedes 18-year-old is proving to be a plug-and-play Formula 1 driver, "a prodigy" Antonelli was hyped to be. His performances have gone against my expectations and that it would happen so soon is massively impressive. Sure it's easy days but the class, dare I say genius, is crystal clear in one so young. Indeed a Special One.

When I heard that the 17-year-old, chosen to succeed Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, was going to make his debut at Monza in FP1 last year, I thought it was a bad idea. His Formula 2 campaign was hardly stellar on paper.

And lo and behold, he crashed. That did little to convince me he was ready for Formula 1. But I was wrong.

All credit has to go to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff—not only for his belief but also for having the guts to put the kid in the car when many, Jacques Villeneuve and this writer included, were doubting the wisdom of the move. As it turns out, it was a great call.

Within three weekends as a Formula 1 driver, Antonelli has risen to the top of the Class of 2025 rookies—young guns who, to be fair, are proving to be largely impressive. Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls has been superb and exceeded expectations for me, while Oliver Bearman seems to be living up to his reputation, asserting himself at Haas over a far more experienced teammate in Esteban Ocon.

But this story is not about the other F1 rookies, they will get theirs. This is about Antonelli. In Australian qualifying, he was down in P16—one second off George Russell in P4. A week later in China, the gap was down to four-tenths, with George starting P2 and Kimi P8.

In Japan on Saturday, at the most daunting track on the calendar, the kid was only two-tenths shy of Russell. The pair shared an all-Mercedes third row. The gap has narrowed and the trajectory is undeniable. Antonelli is getting dialled into this Formula 1 thing.

Antonelli has gone to great lengths to say he’s at Mercedes to fill Lewis Hamilton’s shoes. He’s right: already, with just three races under his belt, he’s writing his own legacy with some fine performances—and breaking records like the sport’s current superhero Max Verstappen did a decade ago.

Antonelli is now the youngest driver to ever lead a Grand Prix, as well as the youngest to set the fastest lap during a race—both feats achieved on merit in Japan. Verstappen, race winner for Red Bull from pole on Sunday, still holds the record for the youngest-ever winner at 18 years and 228 days. Suzuka was Antonelli’s last chance to beat that.

I’m starting to grow fond of Kimi the Kid. Every time he goes out, I’m anxious for him to do well. I want him to succeed—and not end up in the wall—because from what I’ve seen, he has the magic in him. The kind we saw when Valentino Rossi lit up MotoGP and took the two-wheel equivalent of F1 to another level of popularity. No surprise—they’re mates.

Kimi is our Vale in the making. Whether Antonelli will be a Formula 1 world champion remains to be seen. Whether he can win races and possess the 'killer' extinct of the greats, remains to be seen. But the fact that he’s keeping Russell honest already it seems—or at least in view—driving for one of the most high-profile, pressure-cooker, nowhere-to-hide teams on the grid, is hugely impressive.

Wolff has hit the jackpot after reportedly missing out on Verstappen when the Dutchman, a teenager at the time, was available over a decade ago. It’s acknowledged that Wolff believed Esteban Ocon was actually the future for Mercedes. A big miss.

Helmut Marko, who seldom spares a chance to remind everyone that Toto passed on Verstappen, is now eating humble pie—as he was also in the “Antonelli’s not ready for F1” camp.

But this time, Wolff got it right. He deserves the credit for going with his gut—despite doubters in the media and, I assume, within his own team. The trust he showed, and Kimi the Kid delivering—that’s the kind of story you can’t script. At this rate, be braced for the Antonelli name to feature in Formula 1 for a decade or two.

In closing: in this cruel sport we love, it’s ironic that Wolff’s ‘discovery’ comes at a time when Red Bull are looking like fools, with their chaotic driver destruction programme in disarray—as Max obliterates anyone they put in that poisoned chalice of a race seat.