F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has called new Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli a “golden boy” after his meteoric rise to Formula 1.
But the former Ferrari team principal has called for the Mercedes junior to be given time, warning it is unrealistic to expect Antonelli to be in the lead from the start of the year.
“Kimi is a golden boy for F1.”
“He's a great talent, but we need to give him time to prove his qualities. We shouldn't expect him to be in the lead already from the first round in Melbourne.”
“I hope so for him, but if it doesn't happen, he has time to grow. His presence is important for the whole of Italian motorsport.”
Antonelli will be one of six drivers competing in their first full season in F1, alongside Liam Lawson (Red Bull), Oliver Bearman (Haas), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Jack Doohan (Alpine). ).
Dominicali was delighted with the arrival of so many talented young drivers.
“They will add something special to a championship which, from a technical point of view, will certainly be very interesting.”
Some see Kimi Antonelli as the new Max Verstappen, a move that Toto Wolff would like to succeed.
"More than Max, this project most closely resembles that of Lewis's career," replies the Austrian.
“His growth in the junior categories and his impact in Formula 1 came at a time when much more could be tested than Kimi has been able to do now.”
“At the time, Ron [Dennis, le patron de McLaren] had said that Lewis had to take it slowly to get used to F1, especially because Alonso was at McLaren. However, this never happened. Lewis was immediately competitive and found success.”
“With the current preparation, Kimi can jump in our car and be competitive. However, F1 is now a different animal than it was when Lewis started. There are many more dimensions and facets compared to in the past.”
“There's more pressure and social media, so I think it's important to keep everything moving in the right direction, keep the priorities right and avoid what's not essential. L “The goal is to create a new success story as was the case with Lewis.”
