George is experienced enough to carry the team and is showing it was a mistake to keep a young talent on the sideline to protect Hamilton. Meanwhile Ferrari, McLaren and Redbull capitalised on their young talents.
If he is world champion material he will overcome it. These bastards are paid the big bucks for a reason. It's not meant to be easy. Pressure is part of the game.
He's going to be driving a lethal weapon against grown men who want to take his lunch money. And by all acounts is doing a pretty damn good job at it so far. But yeah, a couple media reports are gonna break him.
Putting a rookie in an inconsistent, unpredictable car is bad for both of them. The car makes the driver look bad and the driver has no point of reference to help the engineers. If the car was sorted this would be a different conversation.
This is the biggest issue. Merc has shown little ability to build a winning chassis. If the car was slow due to the powertrain, that is less of an issue for the driver to sort out. But an inconsistent chassis and a driver without a baseline could be tough.
It's just ridiculous these days. Completely unproven kids being hyped up as the second coming of Christ, again and again. De Vries (not letting you forget about that one), Bearman, and now Antonelli. Bearman's race was okay/mid and yet people act like he won the race. Meanwhile De Vries also impressed just the year before that, and look what happened. And why this obsession with Antonelli? He's not anywhere near the lead of the F2 championship
If you've seen what Kimi won in his time before F2 and how he won everything, he definitely is something special. Don't rate him as high as I did Verstappen before his F1 debut, but it's a similar impressive junior career. He should stay in F2 for another year though, we all saw how rough a diamond Verstappen was in his first year, Kimi will be rougher and risk his career if he goes too early. I totally agree though on your point of hyping up young drivers just because they managed to finish 7th in a Ferrari at debut and then to compare it with de Vries who finished 8th in a Williams.
I’m just annoyed at Prema dropping the ball and ruining what could’ve been a landmark F2 season if Antonelli and Bearman were in a title fight in a rivalry that’d carry into F1
I don’t get why people blame prema so much, yeah they have made mistakes but in the end it’s a spec series, the results are also very driver dependent, kimi has been taking some time to adapt but bearman? He got too distracted with his f1 debut so much that he is not bringing strong results in f2 no more and I don’t think it’s because of prema’s fault
@@VVF-05bruh in the previous F2 era if you weren’t in a driver academy backed team like PREMA or ART, you might as well forget about fighting for championship
@@kenchen704 yes but it also depended on the drivers, I don’t think they are as strong as previous years or the overall grid is more balanced ablilty wise
@@VVF-05 it may be a spec series, but there is a LOT of customization available on the setup of the cars. Prema has admitted that they botched the setup of the cars multiple times this season while other teams were absolutely nailing it. It's just easier to blame the drivers though I guess?
Putting him in a merc will be exactly like albon at redbull... Too much, too soon. Even Max wasn't given a redbull right away. Kimi needs to go to Williams to not crumble under the pressure.
100% agree. For Kimi himself though, I still think that an extra year F2 is probably the best thing. He's got plenty of time and with a second year of F2, better options might be available than Williams or a struggling Mercedes.
My main concern is not Antonelli's lack of experience because Verstappen's case has proven that it can work in the long run. My main concern is the lack of patience by Mercedes. It looks like they are already giving up on Russell despite the fact that so far he has only driven cars that were not good enough to compete for the championship. I don't wanna see Antonelli debut in 2025 if Mercedes would sack him within 2-3 years if he wouldn't deliver
Mercedes has shown that it won't just keep a driver for the short term the way other teams have done. They've had 5 drivers in their cars since they restarted F1 compared to other teams that have about double that in the same time.
I haven’t noticed them giving up on George Russell. His position seems pretty solid to me. And it’s patently obvious to everyone that the Merc problem is the car, not the drivers. They have the best overall driver lineup in F1 imho. George is excellent, and Lewis is, well, Sir Lewis Hamilton.
To be fair, it's not the media that are fast tracking him to F2, sticking him in Mercedes F1 cars for tests with less than half a season of that done, trying to beg the FIA for a super license exemption or seemingly trying to get him a seat at Williams this year to assess and potentially take the seat vacated by a seven times world champion at a team that should realistically be looking at competing to win. There comes a point where the media 'hype' is just them reporting on what Mercedes are doing.
The argument they made for Antonelli not doing great in F2 could be made for any driver in that series that doesn't do well. Antonelli isn't even Mercedes best junior driver, that accolade goes to Vesti who was absolutely cooking last year. The fact he has just been forgotten about is ridiculous.
Too much hype? Hype over what??! He's 17. He's been a mediocrity in F2 thus far. Putting him in an F1 car in the next year or two would be a giant mistake. With the cost cap in place, teams can't afford another "Crashstappen" period for young drivers.
He should at least do one season in F2 at least to have some more experience in wheel to wheel combat and have better spatial awareness than the window licker
It would be a reckless decision if Toto really brings this kid on board. Russell is not even a mentor-level driver right now, despite the appeal of being the lead and getting a bigger pay which he obviously is excited for if Max doesn't move in.
Russel is definitely good enough to mentor, he’s not his engineer all he’s gonna do is teach antonelli how to comb over data and give feedback and a few tricks about the car. Antonelli has plenty of mentors anyways
If F2 isn't how you judge a driver, the what the hell is the point of it? Thats supposed to be the last step before F1. So if its not telling you how good a driver you would be in F1, doesn't that mean the whole series is missing the point?
@@craig3895 what if some other dude from F2 would be faster in the F1 tests, but he just doesn't get the chance? How do you compare them if not by F2 results?
@@georgthesecond that's a naive view based on a false equivalency. Comparing a 17 year old just arriving in F2 with no F3 experience to, for example, a 22 year old in his 3rd F2 season after 2 years in F3 on raw unadjusted pace is false and you know better.
They've absolutely gone too far with the hype. If he joins F1 and can't live up to expectations, which would be totally understandable especially considering his age, it'll 100% be Toto Wolff's fault.
Interestingly enough that wasn't Mercedes choice. Yes they loaned out Russell to Williams, but then spent the next two years trying to get him back as quickly as possible (this is why Bottas was always on a one year deal and was always announced after Williams would confirm Russell staying).
@@sirstabbyfork9675 Actually no, he signed a two year deal with an option for a third and Williams held him to his contract much to the annoyance of Mercedes and is the reason why Williams haven't taken on any more Mercedes drivers since then
@@MrSniperfox29 Thats not true. Bottas got extended because Lewis and Merc were happy with him and didn't want to mess up something that was working. They could have taken Russell pretty much anytime they liked.
@@GamerFlair Nope it's perfectly true Which is why Bottas was always (and I do mean always) given a new contract right after Williams announced Russell as staying. Williams had an IRON CLAD contract which greatly upset Lord Tonto and why Williams haven't dealt with Mercedes since.
I've got the feeling this whole hype is more about Toto than Kimi. Toto missed out on Verstappen, saw what happened with Piastri. As his manager, he just can't allow somebody else to walk away with Kimi, his pride wouldn't allow that. Inadvertently though, by creating the hype, he puts an extra spotlight on Kimi, almost forcing himself to get Kimi in F1 next year, because somebody else might pick him up if he doesn't.
1. Verstappen 2. Ever heard of the phrase "potential"? A 27 yrs old standing 6th will never make it to F1, but a 17 standing 6th in his first season, after skipping F3 altogether is a different story
Because he is the top Mercedes sponsored driver, hence why they only care about him Maloney - Red Bull Aron - Unaffiliated Hadjar - Red Bull Hauger - Red Bull Bortoleto - McLaren So with the best will in the world, the only driver available there would be Aron
Carlos is their best option right but he wants a multi-year deal, which they don't want to give out. That is why Carlos' coveting Checo's RB seat, best car and possibility or a multi-year contract.
If Antonelli is Mercedes's future then they can ruin him if they put him in 2025 in their own car. Merc ended 2023 in P2 in the WCC and look to be in a downwards spiral in P4. Merc need to start the 2026 regs in the strongest possible way and give Kimi time to grow at Williams imo.
Putting him straight in this team is only going to end badly, especially with the pressure they are putting on him like its insane. Put him in a lower positioned team's car for example, for a couple years and see if he can handle that first then put him in Mercedes, otherwise he'll sink before he's even had a chance to start swimming.
@@MrSniperfox29 never said they would agree to that, but I'm speaking from someone on the outside looking inward. The consensus from most is that putting him instantly in that Mercedes will pile too much pressure on him, with a decent chance that he is unable to deliver on the hype that Mercedes is endlessly putting on him
@@MrSniperfox29They already have Albon as the fast, experienced team leader and he is amazing at providing feedback and input on both the car and driving technique so he'd be perfect to guide Antonelli through his own development while not being in a high pressure environment.
@@ethanpratt330 Williams have made it clear they are not interested in being Mercedes farm team anymore after how badly Mercedes treated them over Russell. This is why The Mick never got a look in with them despite Toto hailing him as the next coming of the Michael until Kimi came along and Toto suddenly went silent.
Don’t forget Tsunoda also had a great F1 debut but they don’t hype him like they do with Bearman on his debut. They only refer and mention Tsunoda as Honda’s pau driver. What is the difference with Bearman-he would be a Ferrari backed driver and Antonelli is Mercedes’s driver. Yet no one labels them as pay drivers. .
All I can deduce from Mercedes hype on Antonelli is that he will make a great tester and simulator driver. Didn't Buemi bang out Max's car overnight at Imola, doubt he could drive like Max though. Mercedes also needs to be careful about 2026, especially with Andy Cowell who was behind Mercedes powertrains gone!
Oh come on now, you guys are pretty heavily at fault for this too! I've known from the beginning that the Antonelli hype train was crazy talk. Stuff the private tests, you only have to look at the F2 results. It's plainly obvious that if Toto fast-tracks him into F1 before he's ready, he's gonna kill the kid's career. It took a while for him to seem to accept that, but you guys on the media side of things were just as bad about giving into vague rumors and acting like he's a confirmed shoe-in for the '25 Merc seat as if he's already won the F2 championship. Shame on you.
You're right. They've completely ignored their car and are ONLY focused on Antonelli. Like their staff of thousands cannot possibly divide their attention. That would be madness. Great take.
They've had experienced drivers for the past 3 years and they are only slipping backwards, driver feedback doesn't matter when the car just doesn't have enough grip.
Russell and this kid together next year would be one of the worst pairings on the grid. The former has flattered to deceive and has a lot of maturing to do and then to pair with a complete rookie. Stuttgart HQ would have their heads.
Russell is definitely excited to be lead and getting a bigger pay next season if Max doesn't get signed in. Still, two drivers wet behind the ears would be the funniest thing on the grid next season
The problem with this, is exactly the same as Merc's problem since the start of 2022... Too much noise in the media, Lewis and especially Toto have been their own worst enemies in the media in terms of progress, problems etc. and Kimi has been caught up in this too. It would be better if they just shut their mouths and got on with it, in all areas.
Toto needs to put something in the table because he lost his star, and the car is not performing at all, I think the case of Antonelli is more a Marketing strategy than other thing
They‘ve got Schumacher as their backup driver, they could put him in the second seat next season and give Antonelli another year of F2 because he‘s not really lighting it up there yet.
Antonelli is not Max! He isn’t exactly leading the way in F2 this his first season. Wolff is so scarred by not signing Max when he had the chance it is eating him away. What is the point of the much lauded Schumacher being the reserve driver if he isn’t even considered for a drive? Toto is single handedly bringing down Mercedes F1 by his totally irrational moves he makes. Max was storming F2 when he was in it and it was obvious to everyone that was a bit special and, that really eats away at Wolff. People would think better of him if he just publically admitted he made a major error by not signing him. But he will never do that. Antonelli doesn’t compare apart from being a similar age. Mercedes should be barred by FIA and F1 from “placing” any driver at Williams purely for all the crap Wolff has created about Red Bull running two teams. We all know Williams is the Mercedes puppet and it needs shutting down now. Schumacher has shown he is really quite good at WEC and maybe that is where he should concentrate his career. Russell was supposed to be the new messiah as he did well at Williams, but, not exactly setting the world on fire at Mercedes is he? Like Hamilton he is forever on the radio complaining about everything, car, other drivers, track etc. Don’t forget Wolff is dead against Andretti entering because Mercedes will lose money. That tells you the future isn’t looking too good at Brackley because, if they were going to be a dominant team again it wouldn’t matter if another 20 teams joined as the winner gets the big money. Pat Symonds has joined Andretti F1 from F1, the very company that supposedly has said no to Andretti. He wouldn’t do that for no reason would he? The rights holder or, owner, made the major mistake of being an American company that by US law is required to embrace competition and has failed to do so. That means basically F1 agrees to Andretti joining or the company gets either shut down or prosecuted for not following the US law plus, Christian Horner has said the new Concorde agreement should be left the same as it is now. As in, 12 teams can compete!
MB hasn’t made any of the right choices since it’s been on the back foot. They are trying too hard to think outside the box instead of getting back to the basics and thinking about how to fix its current problems instead of thinking 5 years down the road. Having the future best driver doesn’t matter if your car is fighting for the best of the rest….
This guy may have been a hotshot in all those categories in the past. But the fact is, in F2 he is still an underachiever up until now. I don't think he is ready for F2 let alone F1. So, if he does come into F1 way too soon and is underachieving there, his reputation will sink fast. And especially in F1, you are only as good as your most recent results are showing.
So not only do you admit to starting baseless rumors about this driver you are actually proud of the fact that "we were the first to ask" 0:57 ... completely unprompted. So now we know, it's not Mercedes that is putting too much pressure on this kid, it's the media. Specifically The Race. Got it.
I think people are confused about the people overhyping him and saying whatever they want to about it. Kimi is currently 2 points behind the current f3 champion. For someone that completely skipped f3 that's pretty good. Kimi is having a really good season for an f2 rookie especially since prema keeps fucking things up every other race. He's getting along really well and deserves some hype but that never meant that he was going to immediately win f2 right out the gates. We're also only 4 races in. Once we're halfway through the season we'll really see how good kimi is.
Why bother worrying now. The kid has only had 4 weekends racing a car with actual down force. Lets come back at seasons end and see where we stand(which i think is mercs position on it), instead of pointlessly speculating about nothing
If you only care about winning titles, and you do not believe you can win one next year - then what’s the harm in breaking in a rookie when it won’t be able to cost you a title win (as it could have with Russell)
@@GamerFlairSargeant was rushed. That’s a known fact. He was originally planned to do a second year in F2 (where he was very good) but Williams threw him into the F1 seat instead to get adjusted to that. Unfortunately he just succumbed to the non-existent pressure.
@@TheFatSandwhich He is also just not very good. He didn't win any of the single seater categories he entered, despite having 3 years in F3. His 4th place in F2 was earned by consistancy rather then pace, which, whilst is a skill in itself, you can teach a fast and inconsistant driver how to be consistant, a slow driver will always be slow. I won't argue that he was not promoted ahead of schedule, because your right, he was, he should not have been promoted. But utlimately, Williams wanted thier American, Williams driver, and the odds are that if he did another season in F2, it would have been impossible to plausably promote him when he finished probably even worse then the year before, as the faster rookies from that year gained the consistancy they had been lacking the year before. But yeah, Logan is shit because his shit. Him being promoted to early isn't really much to do with it. He probably could be better, but he was never going to be anything more then a mid pack second driver at best.
It does a driver the world of good to be fighting in the midfield or towards the rear for a season or two. Not only does it put less pressure to perform on them, but it gives them a respect for other drivers in similar positions later in their careers. Having said that, the midfield is around where Mercedes are themselves at the moment so it probably doesn't matter for Antonelli to be dropped in there.
The big fish Mercedes is trying to catch is Verstappen. It will not happen in 2025 for obvious reasons. But everything is open for 2026. Putting Antonelli in the seat in 2025 would mean that Mercedes has lost any hope of signing Verstappen at least until 2029. I see only one driver who would accept a one year Mercedes contract for 2025: it is Bottas who is approaching the end of his career. Certainly not Sainz or Ocon. If Mercedes picks Bottas instead of Antonelli, we will all know that Verstappen is moving to Mercedes in 2026.
Kimi should be given one more year in F2 at least. As much as there are a lot of seats in F1 for 2025, most of them are going to be filled by existing drivers anyway. And as it is now it doesn't look like he's being linked to other teams, and it's unlikely Red Bull are looking for new drivers. So Mercedes can afford to keep him in F2 for another year before promoting. The question would be which driver would be willing to join Mercedes for a short term contract that would last just 1 year at least and maybe 2 or 3 at best.
Mercedes' biggest mistake in my opinion: Dropping Aron from their academy! 5 podium in 5 weekends, one in every weekend. Clean driving, solid head on his shoulders, great speed and nice overtakes. What else could you want from a driver? This makes him available to the market and puts so much more pressure on Antonelli who doesn't perform as good as Aron at the moment....
I would make sure that the car was driveable before sticking any rookie in it. Kimi would be better off staying in F2 for another year with a hopefully better Prema.
I don't think the MB pressure is going to be there in 2025 that would make things tough for Antonelli. Afterall, once HAM is at Ferrari the majority of the F1 press (who obsess on HAM) will be giving their attention to Ferrari and only mentioning MB when something remarkable happens.
I don't get the "don't judge an F2 rookie when it's a new car". It's a new car for everyone, that's the best way to compare how those young drivers adapt to the new machinery.
With Williams and Haas the only 2 independent teams left, works teams will have to throw their rookies in at the deep end and I'm all for it. Granted you can't really test before a debut but Piastri and Lawson have also shown its not too much of an issue.
There is a ridiculous amount of hype on Antonelli & Bearman, both are having a terrible season in F2, brilliant campaigns like Callum Ilott got NO interest & ultimately pushed him into GT & now WEC! 1 race should NOT dictate a drivers overall level & there chances in F1! Porchaire was another to get little attention, & he is now IndyCar as a Mclaren sub! No-one seems to have learned from the DeVreis debacle!
Saying Antonelli is having a "horrible" season in F2 is insane. Prema have proved they are behind when it comes to car setup meaning their car is inherently slower and yet despite that he is 6th in his debut season and despite not having any experience in Formula 3 and jumping straight in from FRECA.
@@deyeatdapoopoo7582 to be fair you are right, it's probably to early to say that. But both Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton did one F2(GP2) season & won the title, both didn't have the kind of hype Antonelli has had. As for Prema, the car is the same for everyone, maybe Prema has done a bad job so far, Both Vandorne & Magnussen had this kind of hype at Mclaren, & neither justified it, F2 helps craft better racing etiquette, Bearman & Antonelli(especially as they're so young) would be better of doing 2 seasons of F2.
No matter how much media and fans push Antonelli into F1 for the 2025 season, the kid isn't just ready. He hasn't proved anything yet. No podiums, no pole positions, no mindblowing performances to make me believe he's earned a seat yet. There are many other drivers that could suit better Mercedes' needs, both reserve and F2 drivers who have a considerable record. I understand that British media is anxious to find solutions and results for Mercedes but I don't think this is the way to go. Hopefully, Kimi won't be burnt by all this pressure and manages to go step by step on the ladder.
I think the guys at the race are off-logic again A very young man, no real achievements, current f2 performance not well, and still talking about him being the next max is really rediculous
You are talking about the wrong driver here. Bearman is the one being super hyped and being exposed. Kimi is doing well so far. He's the youngest, most inexperienced driver in F2 this season and he's 6th. Mercs in 25 will most likely be fighting for P6-5 maybe a P4 at most. They are alone as AM is far behind and Ferrari/Mclaren/RB far ahead. Perfect for a rookie. Now Ollie Bearman is 20th, last race he lost the engine in a pit stop. TWICE. I'm shocked as i thought Bearman was going to fight for the title. And they want him at Haas ? With Zhou as a teammate ? That will be sooo nice :D
A lot of people put an over emphasis on this 'last aorta of outright pace' BS. IMHO, that does not matter - Prost, Lauda, Schumacher all had glowing careers as much as Senna, Hunt / Mansell, Hakkinen, Alonso or Hamilton. Sainz is in the former mould but equally effective.
Hamilton went straight into a frontrunning car at McLaren. Piastri is also handling a competitive McLaren very well in only his second year. If the kid has the goods, put him in the car. I don't think Mercedes will be expected to win next year, so he'll have the same breathing space Piastri had.
So people from The Race thinks tests (against nobody) with old machinery are better than an real RACE against another drivers on F2. Guys, please Piastri did a lot more racing in F2 than Antonelli. If F2 does not mean anything, shut down the championship and stop to spend a lot of money on it
Replace "Mercedes" here with "F1 media" and this is accurate. I may be missing something here, but I haven't really heard Mercedes themselves talking up Antonelli
I'm so fed up with F1 reporters continually throwing rookies at Williams for The Mercedes Works Team, only to then rubbish the Williams Team for not advancing up the grid with experienced drivers. JV from Williams needs to put and end to this nonsense in the media and back up Alex Albon with another top quality driver for 2025 and beyond!
It wouldn’t be unprecedented, Lewis Hamilton himself debuted in F1 in a winning car in 2007 McLaren, side by side with the current world champion at the time.
Toto seems so paranoid about missing out on a Verstappen level talent again. I've not seen Kimi in the regionals, maybe he is the real deal, hard to see where he's at with this Prema. But yeah, far too much expectation being put on him right now
If he’s as good as they think he is, he’ll succeed despite the pressure. And if he doesn’t succeed despite the pressure then he isn’t as good as they thought he was and they’ll move on. It’s harsh but gets you an answer quickly. What did Russell really gain from those 3 years at Williams? Isn’t Piastri doing well at McLaren already? The Mercedes seat isn’t as good as it once was either
idk why we keep on calling the merc seat one of the top seats in f1. At this point, they're a solid midfield team, but nowhere near competing for wins. That's for Mclaren, Ferrari and Max
I can understand the argument Antonielli would be better at Williams for his sake, but the days of Big teams going to smaller teams to babysit their stars of tomorrow are starting to end. Every team maybe with the expection of Haas, VCARB and possibly Alpine have plans to win a world championship in 5 years and they do not want to develop a driver only for him to go a team that team hopes to be competing against in that time frame. Additionally to that, would Mecredes do they sign lets say Carlos Sainz or maybe Alex Albon, either one comes in and does a better job than Russell, it would be impossible to justify letting then go for still only a 19 year with a years experience in F1. As well as that Mercedes will know what Antonielli is capable of through simulator work and track days. I still think Antonielli is a good idea for Mercedes.
i am worried about bearman though. ever since that jeddah weekend he's found it difficult. in imola, he was leading the feature but he stalled twice in the pits losing him the slam dunk win he had. I hope he recovers soon as he's shown in his talent but if he finishes bad in F2, behind Antonelli that will not be a good look.
On the flip side: is ANTONELLI risking his future by committing long term to Mercedes? Theyve show so far to only have gotten 1 car right, and with their split turbo engine being so dominant, the car may not have even been the greatest. They struck out on the new regs, whos to say they wont take another step backwards with the '26 regs. But who knows...
Right now I think Mercedes’ biggest mistake was letting James Vowles walk. Toto should have stepped aside and let Vowles take the reigns. Instead, they’ve chased their tails and are slowly spiraling downwards….
