When Mercedes announced in August 2024 that they were fast-tracking Kimi Antonelli - who had turned 18 just days earlier - into one of Formula 1's most desirable seats, expectations could not have been set much higher. Fast-forward a little more than two years, and the Italian has delivered on his billing as a generational talent by becoming the sport's youngest world champion at the age of 20. Even with expectations set so high, winning a title in just his second season in F1 has seen Antonelli surely exceed even the wildest dreams of Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player But the most remarkable thing about Antonelli's triumph is the fact that this sporting fairy tale didn't initially go to plan, starting from the day before his signing was announced. After Antonelli was crowned at the chequered flag of Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix, Sky Sports F1 look back at his remarkable journey to this moment. Mercedes were left stunned in February 2024 when Lewis Hamilton announced that he had decided to leave the team he had won six of his seven championships with to join Ferrari the following year.
Once the dust had settled on the biggest driver transfer in the sport's history, Wolff's attention shifted to finding a new team-mate for George Russell, whose strong first two campaigns with the team had suggested he was a world champion in waiting. The Austrian's top target appeared to be Red Bull's Max Verstappen, while the likes of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, who was making way for Hamilton at Ferrari, provided very solid and experienced options. The wildcard for Wolff was Antonelli, who had been scouted by Mercedes as he dominated the European karting scene and signed by the team in 2019 as a 12-year-old.
Antonelli starred as he worked his way through the junior categories, so much so that Mercedes had him skip Formula 3 to go straight up to Formula 2 in 2024. It's unclear whether Wolff had planned to loan Antonelli out to another team, as was the case when Russell, also a product of Mercedes' junior programme, spent his first three seasons in F1 at Williams, but the opening created by Hamilton's departure changed everything. An unprecedented testing programme was arranged that allowed Antonelli big chunks of track time in Mercedes' cars from recent seasons.
It was surely in those sessions, rather than a slightly underwhelming F2 campaign in which he finished sixth, that Wolff saw enough to convince him to roll the dice. Some speculated that a factor in Wolff's decision was his regret at missing out on signing Verstappen as a teenager a decade earlier and wanting to ensure there was no way the sport's next generational talent would somehow end up in the clutches of a rival team. Antonelli was not only replacing the most successful driver in the sport's history in Hamilton, but the only real example of someone of his age being given a chance at a top team was when Red Bull promoted Verstappen from their junior squad during the 2017 season.
Even in that case, the Dutchman had 23 Grands Prix under his belt. While it had become clear in the paddock that Antonelli had been chosen to partner Russell in 2025, Mercedes arranged a grand announcement around the 2024 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The plan was for him to make his first appearance in F1 practice on the Friday, before his signing was officially announced on Saturday.
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