Amid what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled as his team’s worst performance of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Saudi Arabia, the Austrian saw a silver lining in how Kimi Antonelli continued to consolidate his position as an extremely solid replacement for Lewis Hamilton.
The rookie, the third-youngest F1 driver ever at 18 years of age, managed his fifth point-scoring finish of 2025 at Jeddah and is sixth in the standings on 38 points, two places behind team-mate George Russell.
As F1 wrapped up its first triple-header of the year, it hasn’t proved too difficult for Wolff to justify the team’s choice for the second Mercedes seat given Antonelli’s record so far.
The Italian scored points in his debut in very tricky conditions in Australia, where he finished fourth to become the second-youngest points scorer ever, only behind Max Verstappen.
He followed up with more points in both the sprint and the main race in China and later in Japan, where he became the youngest driver to lead an F1 race and set the fastest lap.
The Bahrain GP has so far been the only race where Antonelli hasn’t scored, and that was only because of a strategy decision that meant he pitted for a third time and lost what looked set to be another points finish.
Results aside, the Mercedes rookie has shown a level of maturity and speed beyond his age, and appears to be making progress every weekend, especially considering Bahrain was the only venue he had previous experience of.
Antonelli has scored points in all but one race so far
Grand Prix Photo
It will be interesting to see how Antonelli performs once F1 reaches Europe, but Wolff is clear that the Italian has been meeting all expectations so far.
“I’m really happy the trajectory is right,” Wolff said after the Saudi Arabian GP. “There haven’t been any kamikaze movement[s]. He’s been consistently learning over the weekends.
“He’s been, interestingly, always very fast when it comes to the end of the weekend, and it seems he gets on top of the car, on top of how to drive the tyres. And it is 100% on target.
“Miami, he doesn’t know Miami, but then from there on, I think we’re going to have a pretty clear picture how this more, let’s say, natural habitat of his, the racetracks he knows [in Europe], is going to impact the performance. But I’m happy,” added the Mercedes boss.
Antonelli has, on average, qualified around four-tenths behind Russell, a driver that Wolff believes is performing at the same level as Verstappen this season.
Leaving the Bahrain strategy call aside, Antonelli has finished one place behind Russell in all races except the Chinese GP, where extensive floor damage meant he struggled for pace on his way to eighth.
The 18-year-old’s contract is only for this year, and speculation continued to link Verstappen with a move elsewhere should Red Bull fail to lift its performance.
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Wolff made no secret of the fact that he spoke to Verstappen last year, but logic suggests that Mercedes will be willing to continue with Antonelli if the Italian keeps on shining and showing promise as he develops throughout the year.
The Mercedes boss insisted he has closed the Verstappen chapter and is now committed to his current drivers.
“I always say I don’t flirt outside if I’m happy in the relationship on a professional level,” said Wolff in Saudi Arabia.
“I’m super happy with the line-up we have, I couldn’t wish for anything better.”
The way both Russell and Antonelli have performed so far this year suggests Wolff is not just talking up the duo for the sake of it.
Russell should be getting a new contract soon, and should his younger teammate keep on showing up every weekend the way he has so far, there’s little reason to believe Mercedes’ 2026 line-up will be different.
