I don't get it. They are citing his performance in F2. I haven't seen anything special from him in F2 yet, yes he's won a couple of races but with someone like Drugovich without a seat, Schumacher who is essentially Toto's best friend and Kimi binning it on his first effort... I can't help but think this kid is very overrated.
Probably got him cheap and are hoping to build a franchise with him, or sell him off in a few years at a profit.
Doesn't the same go for Frederik Vesti? He was not good enough for F1, Mercedes academy junior, won the F2 title... The fact that Kimi skipped F3 only speaks against him in my opinion. Look at Piastri, he was very consistent in the junior ranks and he's holding his own.
*almost won the f2 title (he lost to Pourchaire) I don't think his junior career was quite what Antonelli's has been. Antonelli has improved a lot after a shaky start but I agree Piastri was on the pace immediately and he had one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory. It was clear he would be f1 material, I'm surprised he didn't get a seat the next year tbh
Yeah The smart money would have put Piastri in a seat immediately after his f2 season. But he had to sit out. But he has proven his quality in McLaren and is definitely a future WDC contender.
Vesti never had that spark in my opinion. Neither his or Pourchaire's F2 season was particularly impressive.
For Antonelli in F2, we will not find out since he's already moving on. Prema were nowhere at the start of the season but they've improved now, as has Antonelli who looks to be close to Bearman's pace but with less experience.
I think he will be decent in the Merc but we shall see. Its a better deal than starting in a backmarker like Schumacher, Sargeant and Colapinto have done.
For sure. I just think there are many talented young drivers that have proven themselves to be capable in F1 machinery that did not get this preferential treatment. Lawson did a decent job for VCARB, Hadjar has shown he's a top contender in F2, Martins is finding his footing again, Doohan is finally getting his seat.
There is so much talent that either has to wait for a seat like this or never gets the chance. Look at the performances Russell had to put in in a really subpar Williams and he reluctantly got a chance when Lewis was out sick. Now he's matching a 7 time WDC.
I would not be surprised if Antonelli exits after 30 races and Mercedes chalking it up to bad luck, the car or lack of experience.
There is a reason why Schumacher isn't getting a seat and it is that teams believe they have seen his ceiling of potential.
With Kimi they assume that he has a high potential even if he isn't there yet. Now, you could assume the same about Drugovich – in his case there must be something else why he is considered uninteresting
Considering how Toto reacted when Vowles said such about Schumacher he should put his money where his mouth is
I mean he's... good?
Aside from maybe Hadjar, Bortoleto who's a bit Maldonado-esque, Gabriele Mini, and obvs Lawson - I'm not seeing any "chosen one" talents coming through. There's nothing wrong with Antonelli as a choice at all, just all seems a bit meh.
If they were going to roll the dice, I'd have put Doriane Pin in that seat. She is rapid AF.
Putting Pin into an F1 car would have been irresponsible. At least Antonelli did a season of F2 this year. Pin is struggling in FRECA, she needs to improve to F3 or F2.
I'd love to see her get a shot in F2. It's a bummer Formula W is so far distant in terms of power from the "main" Formula feeders
I can't speak to her performance in FRECA, I've not watched it - but her recent races in the F1 Acad have been more than decent. She's super consistent with whatever she's given, even if it's got a lot less power in the back than F1.
F2 or F3 would do her a world of good in terms of being marketable to F1 teams though, I can't argue with that - but I can't see Antonelli's oodles of experience either, like Bottas or others before him who have been thrown in at the deep end.
I would absolutely love to see Pin or Abbi Pulling rag an F1 car about for a session and see what times they put in.
Pin is currently 26th in FRECA, having not participated in 5 rounds. Last year's Academy champion Marta Garcia is 27th directly behind her but did do all rounds.
Now, I don't know how close Iron Dames and Prema collaborate, but the Prema drivers in FRECA are in 1st (Camara), 5 (Wharton) and 10 (Ugo). So my best guess would be that Prema will promote one or two of them to F3 next year and not Pin.
The key moments played out from Lesmo 2 on his final lap, where Antonelli swooped through at a pretty impressive speed.
His minimum speed through there was 184km/h – which is 7km/h faster than Max Verstappen managed on the fastest lap of the session.
Things are even more impressive through the Ascari Chicane, as Antonelli went through there at 190km/h – with Verstappen only managing 176km/h on his fastest lap.
Other front runners were a similar margin behind Antonelli on their fastest laps at the end of the session – Lewis Hamilton’s minimum speed was 177km/h, Charles Leclerc was 178km/h and Lando Norris 179km/h.
Probably thinking they can turn him into a long term driver. If he is as highly touted as most experts think they can lock him down a la RB with Verstappen. If he is a bust they are a massive team who can attract top talent regardless.
