Red Bull’s admission over Kimi Antonelli as ‘next Max Verstappen’ hype addressed

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko admitted being “impressed” by Kimi Antonelli in his brief practice showing at Monza.

The teenager was announced as the driver to succeed Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next season at his home race, but his FP1 outing was cut short after an early crash – though the early signs of speed were there.

Red Bull ‘impressed’ by Kimi Antonelli FP1 debut

Antonelli jumped past the Formula 3 series and straight into Formula 2 this year, where he has partnered fellow future F1 driver Oliver Bearman at Prema.

With two wins to his name, he sits sixth in the standings and when the subject of the 18-year-old was put to Marko, he acknowledged the pace within him.

“I was impressed by the speed,” Marko admitted to Motorsport-Total when asked for his opinion on Antonelli’s brief FP1 outing at Monza.

When asked if the Italian could prove to be Mercedes’ answer to Verstappen, Marko replied: “Max is Max. He has to prove that first.”

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Given the Italian’s rapid rise through the junior categories and Mercedes’ early signing of him, Marko said Antonelli had “naturally” been on his radar.

“But you can’t have them all,” he added.

However, Marko said it is “by no means guaranteed” talented drivers will also automatically go onto success in their careers, “and Antonelli must now achieve results.”

For Antonelli himself, he spoke of the support he has felt from the Mercedes camp when it was announced he would be partnering George Russell next season, having been with the team since his early junior career.

When asked how he is set to cope with the pressure of Formula 1, Antonelli told media including PlanetF1.com at Monza: “Well, I think one of the main factors that when you know you have a team like Mercedes around you, that really believe in you, and they’ve been believing in me since a very young age, it really helps you to feel and to cope with this pressure very well.

“Even though sometimes I still don’t cope with that perfectly, I still get the right support from Mercedes, but also from myself, from my family, so I’m really happy to be with them, and really happy with the support they’ve been giving me, not only in the past, but also nowadays.”

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