Andrea Kimi Antonelli is about to make history. In just weeks, the 18-year-old Italian will line up for his first Formula 1 Grand Prix, with many seeing him as the next Max Verstappen.
That’s a lot of pressure for a teenager.
While other rookies grabbed headlines last year – like Gabriel Bortoleto winning the Formula 2 championship as a newcomer – Antonelli’s path has been different. He finished sixth in F2, but there’s more to the story than just numbers.
What makes him special? Just ask the engineers who watched him test an F3 car. They hadn’t seen anything like it since Verstappen himself was coming up through the ranks.
His 2023 season with PREMA Racing wasn’t perfect. The team struggled with car balance all year, making wins hard to come by. But Antonelli showed flashes of brilliance that had paddock veterans taking notice.
Here’s what makes his journey even more remarkable: he skipped Formula 3 entirely. That’s like skipping a grade in racing school.
Mercedes clearly believes in him. They’ve invested heavily in his development, seeing something special in the young Italian’s natural talent.
But everyone agrees he’ll need time to develop – just like Verstappen did. Remember how Max made his share of mistakes in those early years? How other drivers sometimes got frustrated with his aggressive style?
We might see the same with Antonelli. He’s young, he’s bold, and yes, he’ll probably make some rookie mistakes.
That’s okay. The real question isn’t whether he’ll be great – most insiders think that’s inevitable. It’s how long it’ll take him to get there.
For now, he’s just a teenager getting ready for the biggest moment of his life. In a few weeks, we’ll start to see if all those Verstappen comparisons were right.
