Метка: Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Doohan reveals new F1 race number after Antonelli clash



Jack Doohan has revealed his Formula 1 race number after his initial choice had to be changed because Andrea Kimi Antonelli had already taken it.

The Australian, who is stepping up to Alpine in 2025 as team-mate to Pierre Gasly, had first lodged a request to run with #12 after being told by the FIA that it was available.

However, it subsequently emerged that #12 had been taken by incoming Mercedes rookie Antonelli – which meant Doohan needed to go for something different.

Now, in a video posted by his Alpine squad, Doohan has announced that he is instead taking #7 – which has a double meaning for him.

“So that’s it. Number seven will be my race number for 2025,” he said. “Super psyched.

“I really wanted to go with a number that I raced with before. Something that had meaning for me. I raced with number seven in 2019.

“And also one of my idols, a super special person and driver, Kimi Raikkonen, also drove with that number.

“I’m really looking forward to continuing it on and making it my own. And yeah, getting some luck from number seven.”

 

Doohan raced with the #7 when he competed for Double R Racing in the Euroformula Open Championship in 2019.

Under F1’s current sporting regulations, drivers have to choose a permanent number that they keep for their entire F1 career.

Numbers only become available if a driver’s F1 career is deemed to have ended after two full seasons out of grand prix racing.

Raikkonen competed with #7 from 2014 until 2021, which means it became available from this season.

Antonelli’s preference for #12 was prompted by its link to his hero Ayrton Senna, who raced with #12 from 1985 through to his title-winning 1988 campaign.

«Yeah, I will take 12,» said the Italian. «I have many numbers that I like. But 12 is a special one, also because of an idol. I’ve been using it since F4. It always went well with 12. So, no reason to change it for next year.»

Read Also:





Source link

Antonelli «much calmer» on second Mercedes FP1 outing in Mexico


Mercedes Formula 1’s 2025 debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli said he drove «much calmer» in his second practice run in Mexico after crashing out in Italy.

Antonelli wowed with his immediate pace on his grand prix weekend debut in Monza, but pushed beyond the limits at the Parabolica and crashed out after five laps.

For his second FP1 outing in a Silver Arrow, Antonelli learned from his mistakes and put down a risk-free run aboard Lewis Hamilton‘s W15, setting the 12th-fastest time.
The 18-year-old clocked 19 laps, ending up 1.202s behind pacesetting team-mate George Russell as he made sure to stay far from the limit of the car.

«It was definitely much better than Monza,» Antonelli said. «I drove much calmer today, I didn’t want to take any risks. I just wanted to do a clean session, just to get some laps, understand the car a bit more and understand the tyres.

«I think overall it was pretty decent. Of course, I could feel I wasn’t on the limit, but just because it was my choice. I just wanted to get a clean session overall. I was able to pick up the pace quite quickly. It was good like this.»

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes F1 W15

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

Antonelli picked up some floor damage coming from a metal piece of debris, which forced Mercedes to repair the damage before Hamilton returned to the car for Friday afternoon’s FP2. 

«To be honest, I didn’t really see it,» Antonelli commented. «It was a shame because I got quite a bit of floor damage from it. It was quite big damage, so of course it wasn’t ideal. But still, I managed to get a few laps in the bag.»

Read Also:

In FP2 Russell suffered a heavy crash after his car bottomed out over the kerbs in the Esses, which sent his W15 into a dramatic spin into the barriers and prompted a much bigger repair job for Mercedes.

«I don’t really know what happened, the car just started bouncing on the ground, and before I had a chance to even catch it, the car was already spinning,» Russell explained after the session.

«A lot of work for the guys tonight again, seems like it’s one thing after another at the moment, but it’s frustrating as in FP1 we were really strong, really fast. Obviously we’ve missed out on laps, FP3 is going to be important, just hope we can get the car fixed.»



Source link

How Mercedes has shielded Antonelli from F1 media glare


Mercedes is enacting a plan to manage the media frenzy surrounding its Formula 1 junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, which will advance whether or not he’s promoted from F2 for 2025.

Antonelli’s career has famously progressed at considerable pace, while the 17-year-old Italian’s close relationship with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff after joining the manufacturer’s junior scheme in 2019 has long marked him out at as a future F1 star for the Silver Arrows squad.

But expectations surrounding Antonelli were raised massively in the fallout of Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari for 2025 – in part because the seven-time champion had signed a two-year, 1+1 contract in 2023 that Wolff admitted had been so arranged in case Mercedes felt it needed flexibility to promote another of its juniors with Hamilton’s career potentially winding up.

Indeed, when Hamilton made his shock announcement in February, Antonelli was quickly touted as his most likely replacement even as other candidates, including later a surprise Mercedes swoop for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen that still remains possible, were assessed.

Things have swung back and forth in the months since, with Antonelli’s lack of headline F2 results in the early part of the season – including his pitstop stall the day after his Prema Racing team-mate Ollie Bearman had won the Austrian sprint race – seemingly giving Carlos Sainz renewed hope of joining Mercedes for 2025, based on Wolff’s comments to Spanish media.

But that was before Antonelli impressively scored his first F2 win in the tricky wet Silverstone sprint race.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Prema Powerteam

After this, he faced the F1 press corps – gaining respect for admitting his victory “was needed” in his first answer of a session where he went from guarded (his arms crossed, shield-like underneath holding his microphone) to open.

His explanation of how an F1 car “gives you a lot of confidence when you drive it because it has so much downforce that you can really push it” was revealing in the context of how younger drivers are more regularly being rapidly promoted to the top single-seater categories.

Read Also:

These are expected to “swim”, as Wolff had repeatedly said in the same press conference room the day before.

That appearance in the official F2 press conference was only Antonelli’s second of the season, after he’d finished second in Melbourne qualifying.

Aside from the three-and-a-half-month time gap between those two sessions highlighting again that this F2 season has been rather a struggle for Antonelli and his Prema squad, it also showed two other elements.

The first was how he appeared much more confident following his Silverstone win — where, of course, the joy victory provides cannot be understated. This feeds directly into the second – in how Mercedes has been preparing Antonelli to face the media while also shielding him from it.

Aware it had to carefully manage Antonelli’s 2024, as well as needing to consider his young age in what can be a brutal sphere, Mercedes moved to tightly control his appearances.

Instead of allowing its junior to interact with and, to a certain extent, deal with media interviews and conversations in the F2 paddock directly as is typical – and how this writer dealt regularly with then Ferrari rising star Charles Leclerc in his rookie F2 title-winning season in 2017 in person and on the phone – Antonelli has been kept at arms’ length from those covering the junior category beat.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli,  Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

But Mercedes has also been working in parallel behind the scenes with Antonelli – giving him in-house media training. As Wolff says, pressure on Antonelli is “going to get bigger” if his career progresses as expected.

Mercedes is also keenly aware that, if he is promoted to its F1 team, Antonelli will immediately be required to make regular appearances with its blue-chip sponsors and also interact directly with senior figures such as Mercedes-Benz Group CEO Ola Kallenius and INEOS boss Jim Ratcliffe.

The thinking behind Mercedes’ strategy is two-fold: in controlling Antonelli’s F2 media requirements, he could focus on adapting to a new category and his high-stakes season, and shielding him also additionally shuts out what can be a ferocious media market in his home country.

Autosport understands that Mercedes is likely to make Antonelli available for more media appearances as the 2024 season progresses, while further F2 successes will automatically get him more airtime.

His F1 future remains undecided, with Mercedes’ options, if it doesn’t feel he is quite ready to join George Russell and replace Hamilton at its works F1 team, including placing him at another squad further down the grid (say, Williams or Alpine) or indeed keeping him in F2 for 2025.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Prema Powerteam

But it’s clear from another of his Silverstone press conference answers – “not always do I cope really well with pressure” – why Wolff is impressed with Antonelli’s wider abilities and not just his speed.

“What I like in terms of his attitude – generally his family, who has been always close to him – is the objective assessment of a situation, and that is ‘good or not good enough’,” Wolff replied when Autosport asked for his opinion on how his charge is coping with all the frenzy surrounding him in 2024.

“And I don’t think that the pressure harms at all the way he performs in the car and how he drives.

“You can clearly see it’s a good benchmarking with Ollie Bearman. They are pretty close. Ollie had an obviously very good race in Austria, and Kimi on the Sunday had a clutch release issue in the second race.

“So, you’ve got to swim. That’s clear. It was a rapid career progression. He’s 17. Hasn’t got even a driving licence for a road car.

“And the best ones will be able to cope with that, with the amount of scrutiny and the pressure, and it’s going to get bigger.”



Source link

How Antonelli performed under a new spotlight after F2 breakthrough


Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s victory in the Formula 2 sprint race at the British Grand Prix not only broke his duck in the championship to ease the pressure on his shoulders, but for the first time it also thrust him into the media spotlight — something the 17-year-old has so far been protected from.

He performed well as he faced open questions without the filter of his PR team by his side, but this is only the start. The reversed grid win at Silverstone will only encourage the hype-train — and with it the scrutiny and pressure.

Since joining Mercedes’ junior programme in April 2019, Antonelli has attracted attention but has been shielded by the Silver Arrows.

Until the turn of the year, he was going about his business and quietly impressing under the radar. He’d followed up winning both the Italian and German Formula 4 titles in 2022 by claiming last year’s Formula Regional European Championship and bypassed Formula 3 to arrive on the F2 grid with Prema.

But his world changed when Lewis Hamilton dropped the bombshell at the start of the year that he was quitting Mercedes for Ferrari. Attention quickly turned to who Mercedes would pick as Hamilton’s replacement.

After seemingly ruling out Carlos Sainz, focus shifted to Antonelli, with momentum ramping up following private tests in April at the Red Bull Ring and Imola.

But despite the speculation and subsequent column inches assessing his potential for making it to Formula 1, he had not spoken, nor were media openly invited to the tests. He was very much off limits.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Prema Racing

So it was with great interest that following his victory at Silverstone, he would face the media as part of his post-race requirements bestowed on the top three finishers.

For background, the F2 press conference takes place in the same auditorium within The Wing at Silverstone as is used by F1. 

While it is usually standing room only for F1, usually for the F2 press conference there might be one or two journalists present with others joining by way of Zoom. However after Antonelli’s win, the room was fuller than usual, drawing comments from the camera operators unused to seeing such an attendance.

Antonelli spoke briefly with the press officer from his Prema team and recorded a short video message for F2’s social media before taking his place on the sofa in front of the press. He placed his first-place trophy between his feet and dropped the half-finished bottle of Ferrari Trento behind the sofa.

Moments before, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Susie Wolff had watched him on the podium. The teenager who mentors their son, Jack, was now an F2 race-winner.

The previous day, Wolff had sat on the same sofa and explained how «a champion needs to be thrown in the cold water and needs to swim» — this was another part of the process.

Interestingly, no members of the Mercedes PR team who have nurtured his profile to this point were present. He was on his own facing the media.

So how did he cope? Very well, actually. He spoke clearly, openly and honestly. He talked about his start to the season and how he had been guilty of making mistakes. How he needed to up his game and refocus his attention.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Prema Racing

He also explained that he hoped the victory would now ease the growing burden on him. He was relieved and understandably so given what is at stake — a spot on the F1 grid for 2025.

It was refreshing to hear Antonelli in his own words. His world has exploded since being linked with F1, yet he seems remarkably assured.

«This year has been quite strange, especially because it all came at once,» he said.

«I’m lucky that I have good people around me — I have my family, Mercedes and also my team. They have been trying to just protect me, especially because it is so easy to crack under pressure, especially in this situation.

«But I have to say that they have really helped me to try to cope with that as best as possible. I am really thankful for that, because it has been quite difficult.

«But, thanks to them, I have been able to cope with it pretty well.»

Mercedes have prepared him well both from a media and a driving perspective. This was another big step for Antonelli’s development off track.

However, this is only the start. For more races, podiums and wins will invite more focus and intrusions into his life, which would of course become magnified considerably if he is promoted to F1 as expected.



Source link

It is not going to happen.


Antonelli is being evaluated by Mercedes as an option to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton for 2025, dovetailing a Formula 2 campaign at Prema with private testing in the Brackley team’s previous F1 cars.

But in recent days, the 17-year-old Mercedes protege has also been mentioned as an option to replace Williams’ Logan Sargeant this year if the Grove-based squad decides it wants to switch drivers.

That idea ramped up on Friday after it emerged that the FIA had received a request for dispensation, understood to be from Williams, to grant the Italian youngster the required superlicence to compete in F1 before he reaches the minimum age of 18.

Antonelli does not turn 18 until the end of August, fuelling speculation that he was being prepared for an F1 debut before the summer break.

But speaking to Autosport, Wolff has completely ruled out that idea, saying there is no interest from Mercedes in changing its original plans for the youngster.

«The dispensation was something that wasn’t brought up by us and we have certainly stated from the beginning that that was not something we have pursued,» Wolff said.

«I don’t know where this belief comes from that Mercedes was keen on pushing that forward. Kimi needs to concentrate on his F2 campaign and he knows that.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12

«Everything else is just rumours, which continue to spin around and that are factually incorrect. He’s an F2 driver for Prema, that is what he’s doing, and this is what we’re all concentrating on.»

Wolff stressed that Mercedes would remain careful not to burn Antonelli by promoting him too early, given his rapid rise through the junior series and his lack of experience.

«Just 15 months ago, he was in an F4 car,» he said. «We have great belief in Kimi, his abilities and also his future.

Read Also:

«But there is a trajectory which we need to follow with diligence, rather than trying to dream about jumping from series to series in a way that is certainly not beneficial for him.

«I think a champion is not going to be distracted by any of this. But certainly, at least it distracts me because everybody’s asking me: ‘What about Kimi and driving in Imola?

«This is not going to happen. This is not something that Mercedes wants. These rumours have gotten their own spin. Let’s do Formula 2. We as a team have lots of other issues to resolve.»

Wolff made clear that Mercedes had never expressed any interest in fast-tracking Antonelli into F1, and suggested that the dispensation request was something done by a third party.

«I think that this dispensation is probably something that got some traction because more and more people flirted with the idea,» he said. «But it’s certainly nothing that we have ever pushed from our side.»

Wolff said Mercedes was happy with the progress Antonelli is making, comparing favourably to Ferrari’s highly-rated Jeddah debutant Oliver Bearman in F1 so far.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes testing at Imola

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes testing at Imola

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Last month, he also completed a maiden F1 test with the 2021 Mercedes W12 at the Red Bull Ring, followed by an Imola test in the more recent but trickier-to-drive 2022 W13.

«It’s completely on the trajectory that we expected,» Wolff said about his protege’s progress.

«There are easier days, there are harder days. I think between the two drivers and the team, they need to sort out a few issues, but it’s not unexpected. And the testing goes very well and we are just approaching it calm and collected.

«That is what we have planned before the season, a solid F2 campaign and testing for Mercedes, and we will continue to just do this. Everything else is just a distraction for all of us.

«We are super happy with George [Russell]. He’s going to continue to be a driver in this team. And everything else we see panning out on the driver market.

«It’s not going to happen in the next few weeks or a couple of months.»



Source link

Mercedes protege Antonelli set for maiden F1 test


Mercedes has planned a two-day test from 16 April for its highly-rated junior driver in Austria, where he will take the wheel of the 2021 Mercedes W12.

The acclimatisation test will be the 17-year-old’s first of several planned F1 outings this year as Mercedes prepares him to step up to F1 in the future, adding to his duties in the Formula 2 championship with Prema.

Antonelli is under consideration for promotion to F1 pending on his progress this year, with Mercedes having the vacant seat of Lewis Hamilton to fill for the 2025 season and beyond.

It could also try to place the Italian at a customer team or decide to hand him a second season in F2, having graduated to the series straight from Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine having skipped Formula 3.

Following a difficult weekend for Prema in Bahrain, Antonelli moved up to ninth in the standings in Melbourne thanks to a fourth place in the feature race, from second on the grid.

Team-mate Oliver Bearman scored his first point after making a highly-publicised F1 debut with Ferrari in Jeddah.

F2 doesn’t race again until the Imola round in May, giving Antonelli a window to conduct F1 testing.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

Rodin driver and Sauber junior Zane Maloney leads the championship after three rounds, ahead of Paul Aron and Dennis Hauger.

Commenting on the vacant Mercedes seat for 2025, team principal Toto Wolff said he would take his time to make his decision, partially dictated by any availability of Max Verstappen.

«There are a few options that are really interesting for us – from the very young super talent to someone of the other ones, who are very experienced,» he told Fox Sports Australia in Melbourne.

Read Also:

«That’s not going to happen in the next few weeks or months. I want to continue to monitor the market. It depends on what Max does.»

As part of F1’s testing of a previous car regulations, tests can be done with 2022-spec machinery from this year, which bear more resemblance to the current crop of cars.

That means Antonelli would also be allowed to sample Mercedes’ 2022 W13 at future tests.



Source link