Much is expected from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli of Italy, starting with the Australian GP next month. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
If there’s one thing that Netflix’s Drive to Survive series is doing correctly, it's humanising this once reclusive yet popular group of people we call Formula 1 drivers.
The series has dove into the politics, lives and challenges faced by teams and their drivers in the paddock, with Mercedes AMG latest driver Kimi Antonelli making his debut in Season 7.
An 18-year-old Antonelli was recruited to fill the gap left by Sir Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, and will join George Russell’s lead.
Season 7 focuses on Antonelli’s introduction to the paddock and also shows the moment he received the call from Mercedes saying he got the job.
Antonelli was at home in Italy when CEO Toto Wollf and the rest of the team called him on a Whatsapp conference call.
“We organised this Whatsapp call to break the news that you are a Mercedes Formula 1 driver next year. We have super confidence in you and we will do this together,” Wolff said.
Antonelli said it felt a bit weird to be at Mercedes.
“It feels good to be honest, a bit weird. It is something I dreamt of since I was a kid,” Antonelli said, before going into his home and hugging his parents with the good news.
CEO Toto Wolf will again this season, desperately try to find the form and car they enjoyed with Hamilton from 2014 to 2020. Wolff is seemingly against the ropes with Hamilton’s departure adding fuel to a raging fire.
But when it comes to his drivers, the Austrian billionaire is content.
“I’ve picked my two drivers. Russell and Antonelli and that feels really good,” he added.
Meanwhile, with just over a week to go before the first race of the year in Melbourne, Australia, lead driver George Russell said Mclaren looked the fastest in pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Zak Brown’s McLaren MCL39 took the Constructors Championship last season but the team still spent the winter break developing the car further and by Russell’s reaction, it seems to be another Papaya thunderbolt.
“I don't think either of us right now have a car that potentially is capable of beating the McLaren. McLaren, without doubt, look by far the strongest. Especially their race pace looks pretty impressive,” Russell told an F1 magazine.
Wolff’s Mercedes finished 4th on the Constructor standings, while Russell and Hamilton finished 6th and 7th respectively on the driver standings.
Wollf also touched on the possibility to having Max Verstappen join Mercedes. He and his wife were having breakfast during filming when she asked "do you think Max is an option?"
"I think he is. Look, if you win all the races in a season, then I think he is. I haven't talked to him because I promised Lewis not to talk to him. But I will have the conversation now," Wolff replied.
From the outset, the relationship between Russell and Antonelli so far looked to be that of student and mentor, but time will tell if they gel together this season and bring Mercedes back to the podium more often.
Russell was seen speaking to Antonelli about saving time in the car during testing, which Mercedes branded as “big brother energy”.
No doubt Antonelli will want to absorb his peers advice, but at the same time, want to leave a lasting first impression on Wolff and the rest of the paddock. Russell on the other hand may just be watching for a red horse over his shoulder on his front bumper, with a former teammate in a Ferrari this season.