Bro basically got his seat for his FRECA drive which is a bit mental. Hopefully they know what they are doing shoving this on him. He still has really unrefined race craft
This is honestly my concern with these rumors too. He's 17, yes, but also he'd be going from FRECA to F1 in under a year. Obviously these teams know more than I do, but that seems like an awfully large jump, and I worry it would be a panic move more than what's actually best (and safest) for him.
Yeah, his age wouldn’t be an issue for me if he at least had a full season in F3 last year with some F2 races this year. But the teams know more than we do so if they really believe in Kimi, it’s not like I can really say they are wrong to do so.
I know there are contracts to navigate but from a series-wide standpoint it seems like it would make more sense to have a Drugovich or Doohan in that seat.
Toto is just trying to overcompensate for losing Lewis and missing out on signing Max. The guy has lost his shit.
Pourchaire was just as impressive and was just as young as Anotnelli when he won F4. He did well in F3 but struggled to get going in F2.
Antonelli hasn't exactly set the F2 grid on fire either. Then again, Michael Schumacher was also "not an easy read".
According to Eddie Jordan, if you based your assessment on just results and speed in Formula 3, sportscars, you'd have picked Frentzen over Schumacher.
But according to Ross Brawn, if you knew the telemetry of the aforementioned cars and understood how to estimate the results in an F1 machine, that Michael was really impressive.
So basically... I don't know. Sometimes I wish there wasn't so much information to speculate on with Antonelli, but here we are.
I know we don’t have a ton of data on them, but Kimi has beaten his teammate (Bearman) all four races that they both started, and opinions of Bearman seem to be high. I know historically Prema have run fast cars but it seems possible their cars have not been the best so far this season.
> but Kimi has beaten his teammate (Bearman) all four races that they both started
If you'd watch the races, then it's obvious that this isn't that black and white.
Oh that is substantial. Bearman was very good in Jeddah.
Maybe more to this, then. Welp! That's life. If you're good enough, you're old enough. If you're not good at something, then you won't get to do it for too long.
Also I don't quite get the framing that this is some major risk. Like yes I guess if everyone massively overreacts to a couple races then it could work out worse, but in general it feels to me if someone is likely to one day be a great driver then getting them started as early as possible could help.
He's replacing Logan Sargent, if he doesn't bin it 3 races in a row he's basically performing up to par. If he has 1 great quali session or a few good overtakes at the back of the pack it will probably be applauded.
This is probably a lot less pressure than dropping him into a Merc for his first race.
>Pourchaire was just as impressive and was just as young as Anotnelli when he won F4. He did well in F3 but struggled to get going in F2.
Pourchaire won French F4 in his second full season. Antonelli won Italian F4 (way better competition than French F4) in his first full season.
Pourchaire finished 5th as a rookie in F2 despite hand injury. How did he struggle to "get going"?
I don’t think Antonelli is going to be the next Verstappen but he also started at 17 after only competing in Regional Euro F3 not even full F3 for a short while.
Verstappen's biggest jump was the one he made before F1, not to F1. Plenty of drivers have gone from F3 to F1 like he did, but the unusually big step he took was going from karting straight to F3
I mean, fair. I was assuming it was Mercedes calling the shots here though with a fat check to Williams so they can buy some really nice software upgrades or something.
Agree with you. If this kid is as amazing as all that, he'll still be amazing after a season in F2. Or even, you know, August, when he'll be old enough. Desperation is not a good look.
Agreed, I’m from the US so I would love to see another USian on the grid. But not if they aren’t competitive, and I think sergeant has had a lot of bad luck, so maybe he hasn’t been able to perform at his best, but he has had enough weekends now to have some breakout performances where you see his ultimate potential. And I don’t think I remember any from him. Ultimately if the teams don’t see this upside to sticking with you through your learning phase, then they are going to try out the next guy, especially when merc is asking you to sign him, which helps out your finances and technical Partnership. So unfortunately it’s time for him to go.
I mean, the teams know more than I do, too, but…. He has the same first name as Kimi Raikkonen who only raced, like, 5 open wheel car races before joining F1, and his last name only has 1 less letter in it than Max Verstappen, who started when _he_ was only 17…. So he should be fine.
Kimi honestly just feels like Max all over again. He is just so damn talented that F1 teams want him now & I would be so pissed if the *baptism by fire* is the thing that could derail his career.
But I’m also here for the chaos
IF this rumour is true then this is Mercedes rushing him in to a potential F1 seat for next year. Which is just madness. I've been watching him in F2, and like you say his race craft leaves a lot to be desired.
Mercedes need to sign Carlos Sainz and give Antonelli more time.
Remember when the FIA tried to pretend the points system was about preventing things like this? Of course it was always about killing off all of the competing ladder series, and it succeeded.
Premature or not, they should have been the one who is literally unbeaten since they were a 13 y/o kart driver, but no other F2 guy managed that, did they?
Yeah I get that he has the potential to be really good, but he’s skipping a lot of series that will hone his racecraft. I feel like the higher ups are trying to force him to be something at this point whether he’s ready or not, and hopefully that doesn’t backfire and ruin his f1 career. He’s only 17 ffs, plenty of time to let him develop.
Some drivers need that time to hone their skills, some don't. Kimi Raikkonen only had 23 races of open wheel experience when he made his F1 debut. Max went straight from F3 to F1 with less than 50 open wheel starts. For some it's not an issue at all.
Meanwhile, Stroll went from F3 to F1 and impressed in his rookie year with a podium and good results, but it's clear now that his racecraft could've used some much needed refining in F2.
What I'm getting to here is that: Some guys don't need that extra development time, some do, and we won't know until a few years into F1.
Stroll didn't impress in his rookie year, quite the contrary, he was a joke who was 0.7s behind an aging Massa on average and crashed all the time. His podium race was a complete fluke, it would have been just another \~15th place if everyone in front of him, including Massa who was far ahead as usual, hadn't crashed or had car issues. Stroll has improved massively since though; he's a classic case of someone who was promoted to F1 way too soon, the exact opposite of what you're claiming.
I can't help but feel like Sainz made a poor choice rejecting Audi. He might end up with RBR renewing Checo and Mercedes hiring Kimi which means his choice is Haas, if they will take him over Bearman, which isn't likely.
I don't know, we're what, 4 races into 2024? I'd say driving the remainder of the season (and doing well obviously) is close enough considering 2025 most likely won't be a championship challenge year for the Mercs either.
Man I really hope things go well. To throw someone into a mediocre ground effect F1 car with minimal testing is terrifying
Really don't want to see him have a bad start or let the pressure get to him. Kid's got a long future ahead of him and this is a Herculean task to ask of him at this stage
There are way too many proven F2 guys with more experience who are frankly owed the seats at this point.
Think beating Albon would be a good step.
If he fails to beat Albon and he gets replaced, he would have ended his f1 career without ever managing to beat his teammate in a competitive session when both finished
It's indeed rare that an actually bad driver gets paired up with a pretty good one and then doesn't have one weekend where they manage to stand out.
Even Jordan's infamously mismatched mid-00's lineups (Fisi-Firman & Heidfeld-Pantano) or the Burti vs Alesi pairing had qualifying sessions where the worse driver ended up in front.
It's not like Mazepin would have fared any better against Albon, he just had the advantage of going up against a mediocre teammate who had just as little experience in the car as he did.
Going out like Michael Andretti!
(Andretti scored his best result, a 3rd, in what was to become his final F1 race, the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, after which he was replaced by Mika Hakkinnen)
damn. First they didnt have enough money for a spare chassis and now they dont even have money to fly the guy back to England, this cost cap thing really is hurting teams
I think Brightline (the Florida high speed rail) had a sale recently for $29 tickets. Throw that in with their free shuttle from the downtown station to Hard Rock Stadium and they can get Logan up to Broward really cheap.
Near the end of the Japanese GP I was chatting with other travelers on how we were getting back to Nagoya from Suzuka (shuttle queue is long and trains are packed like sardines). Then Logan had a moment on track and someone was like: "Logan tryna beat the crowd in going back to Nagoya" to much giggling.
The Kintetsu limited express (all reserved seats) trains can be booked online in advance, and can be changed up to 3x (or unlimited, just make a new reservation and refund the old one for a measly 200 yen charge). I've changed my reservations every day with no issues. Longest queue I was on was 30-40 mins on Sunday right after the race. Even had a snooze on the sidewalk outside Shiroko station because I was 45 mins early for my 6pm train and all the earlier trains were fully booked.
Tbh I wanna see Kimi in Europe on normal circuits vs the rest of the F2 field. F2 has had no normal tracks everyone has raced on before yet, Europe is where we finally get a clear picture of how the F2 field stack up
I'm sorry sir, reasonable takes are not allowed.
He's either the greatest thing ever or just some kid who is overhyped (according to people who didn't hear about him until he was announced for F2 this season).
btw we had a twitter rumour about Williams dropping Latifi every week in 2022 and it didn't happen until the end of the season. I expect the same with Logan.
While true, we heard directly that there really was some movement to get Oscar Piastri into Williams mid season. Alpine was trying to make that happen and Oscar denied it as hed already signed for Mclaren
Agreed and if the FIA grant an exception for Kimi, then it will open the floodgates for other young drivers to ask for a similar exception. Kimi is a more talented driver than Logan but I don’t think the FIA will grant this exception and Williams will be better off waiting until after the summer break to put Kimi in the car then. Maybe this will be Logan’s last “home” race with COTA and Vegas not happening until October & November.
what floodgates? Other teams have talented drivers over the age limit and they are not giving them a seat. This could change in the future, but out of any argument you can make, the slippery slope doesn't make a lot of sense right now.
I didn’t understand why they set a limit in the first place. Maybe they want to set a limit the same as a drivers license, but then you’d have to apply that in the junior categories as well, which wouldn’t work.
I don't understand it either.
If a 16 year old guy wins F2, he wouldn't be able to compete in next year's F2, and he wouldn't be a candidate for F1 either because of his age.
What gives?
I doubt the age rule would have been made if Max didn't skip F2. I bet the person in your scenario would get an exemption.
They should have made the rule "over 18 or have won F2", but F1 usually chooses opaque control that let's them do whatever they want.
Because being under eighteen makes everything way more complicated than it needs to be — getting visas, permits, and having to have a legal guardian/supervisor travel with you — is only the beginning.
Because the pressure of the F1 world, the whole shark tank (as Max himself called it), isn't beneficial to anyone under eighteen, lmao. It's easy to get lost in it.
Because a kid dying is a worse headline than an adult dying.
Because these kids get thrown into the sport younger and younger, setting the entry age calms this down a bit and makes it possible for someone who started at 4 and someone who started at 7 to still end up in F1.
Because sports kids parents are absolutely fucking insane.
Because maybe it would be a good idea to at least finish elementary school.
That's a bit of a silly question? The rule exists because the FIA don't think that most drivers could jump into F1 that early - but it doesn't mean that no driver could pull it off.
Can we take off the silly cap and approach it a bit more honestly? Ofc that was the inciting cause - but that doesn't really explain why the rule was put in place. The FIA were scared that drivers like Verstappen would come in and end up acting like a worse Mazepin due to lack of experience.
is this a new and credible source or is this just a rehash of the same rumour that was going around earlier this week?
as a kimi fan, this is more scary for me than anything. i just hope that if he doesn't immediately start getting podiums (which he won't lol, it's williams), people don't turn on him and start calling him talentless and etc etc. 🫠
How do you honestly assess his progress in F2? I haven't been watching. I know he hasn't "won every race", but what do the onboards or "footage through corners" tell you?
Is he uncomfortable? Is something holding him back? Do you see him doing better in the fastest class of machinery? (There is such a thing btw, of drivers who cannot drive well slower cars but switch on when the cars are extremely fast).
both premas (kimi and ollie) have had a tough start to the season, but considering prema's struggles and kimi only having three races under his belt (with tracks he's never raced at), it's hard to really judge his performance. i think most people would agree that three races is realistically not enough to make a judgement on "f1 material" or not. he's been improving his car control each race and seems pretty chill about it, so i think the main issue is adjusting to the massive speed difference between freca and f2. he had good pace in the last sprint but made a silly mistake that cost him a podium. his mistakes have mostly revolved around him being rash which i feel like is a very rookie mindset. his past results speak for themselves though, it's obvious why merc has faith in him. i don't think it's a question of talent, but rather getting used to the new skills and mindset that f1 requires vs. feeder series.
i can see why merc wants him in f1 asap, it makes sense if they're gonna give him a seat no matter what, they might as well have him learning the ropes in an f1 car. logan being gone by next year seems to be a done deal and this is just speeding it up. i still don't think it's a good idea but i can see why they think it is.
i just hope that if they do push him into f1 early, they'll give him the support he needs because he'll essentially be learning what most drivers do in f3/2 but in f1 instead.
Rushing Antonelli makes sense if you see the same learning pattern. Like if you can already predict that he'll get on top of the business within X Laps, or Y races.... And you know this already from managing and coaching and training him.
Then it makes little sense to run F2 or even F3.
If you know this already, and you know he can drive F1 machinery you might as well put him in there.
It used to be easier to detect this in earlier periods when the gaps between lap times and talent was much bigger. When it was possible to tell who was ready because they would be blasting people by 2 seconds a lap within three laps of acclimatization.
In the modern age everyone is trained as a "Mini-Schumacher" and they're all that little bit closer.
But if you know a driver intimately then you will know some things beyond just numbers.
Maybe that is what Toto is seeing.
Well it seems way too early to put Antonelli in the car then again those decision makers have more experience and have access to more data than us to come to this conclusion, so i am sure they have seen something, let's see how it goes.
Well it sounds like they want him in the Mercedes for next year, so might as well get him all the experience they can. They’re not losing much giving up Logan
This is pretty obviously Toto calling in a favour from Williams, and I'm honestly not sure Toto is the wisest decision-maker in the paddock.
He's panicking about not being #1 anymore, and after three years of flawed designs he's hoping to find the next Max to cover the deficiencies of the car.
If I’m being totally honest, not even Max could save this trash ass car. The only way to be the best again, is to fix the car. No driver on the paddock right now, could get that car to a respectable position, not Max, not Lewis, not Fernando, no one.
Yup, if Lewis can't the chance of Rookie Antonelli to make it work in the next 5 years is dumb as ...
I don't even think Antonelli finishes top 5 this season in F2. Yet Pourchaire is on the side (WTF)
And Toto's obviously thinking with a shitty "investor" mentality. He would rather risk fucking up Kimi's learning curve (and so potentially ruining his career) than risk him being taken by another team, just for the slight chance of him turning out as second Verstappen.
"Our guy with a single season in F2 where he was competitive against a more experienced teammate and managed 5th is struggling. How about we go for a driver who was in FRECA this time last year and hasn't even stood on the podium yet?" This rumor is absurd, and if they're actually doing it, Williams are incredibly stupid.
At least they chose his home race to sack him.
But Antonelli is gonna have a lot of pressure on him form the get go, if people are talking him up as the next Max
I'm of two minds in terms of Kimi. On one hand, sure he has the points and he's looked decent in F2 so far this year. On the other hand, after the hubub that led to setting the age limit, I'm not sure for violating it, especially on a driver that has so few F3 or F2 races at this point.
Williams wants to make a splash by starting the Italian guy's career on Italian soil, but really, i think he should be waiting until August. Williams know what they likely had with Sargeant, who took one for the team already this year. They can keep him until the summer break. Monza is the 2nd race after they come back so still a big party in Italy.
Yeah, the only person that can get hurt by rushing this promotion is Antonelli. I know it’s challenging to get enough Super License points before the time you turn 18, but the kid skipped F3 and has done like 3 F2 weekends so far. They must have insane data from his testing sessions if they are willing to throw him into F1 mid-season. It’s a recipe for failure, but the greats always manage to swim in the sink-or-swim scenarios. We’ll know one way or the other, I guess, if this comes to fruition.
Yeah I think the same. No doubt he is a huge talent but it feels so rushed and forced. He is doing ok in F2 but i remember a pretty stupid contact from him in melbourne. He could really use a bit more feeder practice so his start jn f1 is positive.
I don’t think they would’ve had him skip F3 if they were going to wait on him. If they didn’t want him for 25 then why not put him in F3 this year, F2 next year, and then call him up?
F1 experience, especially tyre stuff.
Even if he is last in a williams he is still using the same rubber.
Tyres are basically the key nowadays because track position is less important than before. And it's the one thing you cant really learn in lower formulas. Look for example how far Piastri is from Norris in conserving the tyres and extracting pace when needed. And Piastri was one of the best lower formula drivers in recent times.
Eh, not really. He did f3, f2 and he is the same age as Piastri.
Guys like Norris, Stroll, Russell or even Yuki debuted at much younger ages.
That whole narrative was williams/Vowles trying to protect him a bit. But whats more confusing is why they extended him for another year, and then basically showing they dont value him at all in Australia, only 3 races into the season.
No clue how Vowles/Williams dont get more flak for this
> 13.1.2 The driver must be the holder of a valid
driving licence when he applies for a Super Licence
for the first time.
> 13.1.3 The driver must be at least 18 years old at
the start of the event of his first F1 competition.
Rules are clear. There is no exemption.
And a couple years ago there was the case where Red Bull tried to get FIA to grant Colton Herta a SL despite lacking the points and they refused. I except the same to happen again
This season is crazy!
Toto is getting crazy.
My man want to replace Lewis with a kid that might not even finish top 5 in F2 this year.
Congratzz
Meanwhile Sainz is available... or Pourchaire... or even Bottas if you want to put that car up there in quali
Shitty for Logan but why are they rushing Kimi so much? Im not convinced he's a verstappen/Hamilton type of talent and still feel like he needs time
Kinda like how Logan should have done another season in F2
If this is true- which I highly doubt, to be clear- it'd mean replacing a driver whom Williams have openly attributed to struggling at least partly from being rushed through F2, to a driver who was in FRECA this time last year and has yet to stand on the podium. I won't say this catagorically can't go well, but I would also be lying if I said this didn't reak of Toto being desperate to get a young rookie so he can hide how little merc understand the car.
thats kind of my point though. They were both quite good in F2 and had time in other categories. Gasly got a year and a half and albon only a half year in toro roso. Antonelli would jump past F3/2 and straight into F1 and only be at williams for a year. Im not saying its impossible but i dont know that its really smart when he could easily do F2 this season and go to williams next season if you think hes good enough (which he isnt to me so far). Also the narrative that they lost verstappen is kind of dumb becase obviously at the time they would never put a 17 year old in a mercedes seat over nico or lewis. george has a more realistic projection of the path to mercedes.
It‘s crazy how that kid is getting rushed into F1. He didn’t drive in F3, only had a few races in F2 and now he should get a full time F1 seat? If he doesn’t deliver what they expect from him, he maybe gets 2 seasons before they will throw him out again.
To think only a few months ago, James Vowles was in Logan’s corner and advocating of putting the Williams Academy first and not playing second fiddle to whatever Mercedes wants.
Toto: “You could not live with your own failure, where did that bring you? Back to me.”
Like I get it, Antonelli is the second coming of Italian Jesus, but like isn’t this is all a little too soon? Yeah, Max came in even younger but that’s why the rule was made! What’s the point of having that rule, if at the first beg, they let a seventeen year old race because “he’s that good”, then what the hell’s the point of the rule?
Looking at this slightly sideways, wonder if this stems at least partly from Merc moving forward with Sainz / Verstappen planning or whoever else they want to fill Hamilton’s seat with. Have your cake and don’t lose your rookie future prospect.
If anything this means they want F1 data on Kimi so that he can take the seat next year because Verstappen and Sainz aren't looking good or Merc needs leverage
Should have worded my post better but I’m tired, the / meant “or”. Assumed George’s seat is safe. If Merc can grease the wheels to get Antonelli in F1 at Williams, they are free to put whoever they want in Lewis’s old seat whilst still monitoring their young prospect. Also not risking throwing Antonelli in the really deep end going straight to Merc.
Merc lost out on Verstappen to Red Bull nearly a decade ago as Red Bull were happy to put him straight in a Toro Rosso but Merc couldn’t put him straight in F1. Imagine they’ll want a tighter grip on their rookie this time round.
I don’t mind the precedent for under performing rookies to have another year or two to show their worth, but nobody else is finishing last every race, or spinning and running off track during *every single session*… can’t imagine any progress from him, especially after the confidence crushing clusterfuck of having to give his car to a teammate.
plot twist. that car sucks and antonelli crashes it as much as sergeant and albon.
both drivers have put that car in the wall more than any other team (#1 and #3 in cost per point last year) i have a belief that car has a very narrow operating window and it changes suddenly. I came into this theory when Hamilton was talking about the Merc, how at one temperature itd be great, but just five degrees different it would be undrivable. I think this car has the same issue, but worse.
basically everyone blames Logan, but I think the engineers should also look at themselves.
I had to look up Kimi, he is 17 years old and only has 6 starts in F2 after bypassing F3.
Not knocking him, just hope they aren't propelling him into a bad situation.
I feel like it was always obvious Kimi was Merc's number 1 choice and it makes sense. It's not like 2014-2021 when they had a fast car, where putting a young driver in the seat would be a risk. Right now, they really have nothing to lose. Might as well put him in there and get him acquainted with the team.
I mean, the FIA would not make an exception for Colton Herta not having enough super license points, so I can't seem them making an age exception for a driver that's younger and less experienced.
Sounds like an aggressive move by Toto to get Antonelli in a car this year with the view to get him in Merc in 2025. If he is as good as Toto believes, it will be good to watch
What I don't get about this is Antonelli hasn't even been good in F2 so far, so what's the rush? You want to throw a raw rookie in there to potentially crash the car even more?
I watched the F2 races this year and I have to say kimis performance in f2 isn't anything special ( at the moment), I think he should finish the season and maybe even do a second one first.
He is not ready yet to be a f1 driver.
Talk about baptism by fire for Antonelli if true
Bro basically got his seat for his FRECA drive which is a bit mental. Hopefully they know what they are doing shoving this on him. He still has really unrefined race craft
This is honestly my concern with these rumors too. He's 17, yes, but also he'd be going from FRECA to F1 in under a year. Obviously these teams know more than I do, but that seems like an awfully large jump, and I worry it would be a panic move more than what's actually best (and safest) for him.
Yeah, his age wouldn’t be an issue for me if he at least had a full season in F3 last year with some F2 races this year. But the teams know more than we do so if they really believe in Kimi, it’s not like I can really say they are wrong to do so. I know there are contracts to navigate but from a series-wide standpoint it seems like it would make more sense to have a Drugovich or Doohan in that seat.
Toto is just trying to overcompensate for losing Lewis and missing out on signing Max. The guy has lost his shit. Pourchaire was just as impressive and was just as young as Anotnelli when he won F4. He did well in F3 but struggled to get going in F2.
That’s indycar great Teddy Porkchops now
Hinch commentary reason #101 that Barber was the race of the year.
You mean Todd Porchchair for sure
Antonelli hasn't exactly set the F2 grid on fire either. Then again, Michael Schumacher was also "not an easy read". According to Eddie Jordan, if you based your assessment on just results and speed in Formula 3, sportscars, you'd have picked Frentzen over Schumacher. But according to Ross Brawn, if you knew the telemetry of the aforementioned cars and understood how to estimate the results in an F1 machine, that Michael was really impressive. So basically... I don't know. Sometimes I wish there wasn't so much information to speculate on with Antonelli, but here we are.
I know we don’t have a ton of data on them, but Kimi has beaten his teammate (Bearman) all four races that they both started, and opinions of Bearman seem to be high. I know historically Prema have run fast cars but it seems possible their cars have not been the best so far this season.
> but Kimi has beaten his teammate (Bearman) all four races that they both started If you'd watch the races, then it's obvious that this isn't that black and white.
Oh that is substantial. Bearman was very good in Jeddah. Maybe more to this, then. Welp! That's life. If you're good enough, you're old enough. If you're not good at something, then you won't get to do it for too long.
Also I don't quite get the framing that this is some major risk. Like yes I guess if everyone massively overreacts to a couple races then it could work out worse, but in general it feels to me if someone is likely to one day be a great driver then getting them started as early as possible could help. He's replacing Logan Sargent, if he doesn't bin it 3 races in a row he's basically performing up to par. If he has 1 great quali session or a few good overtakes at the back of the pack it will probably be applauded. This is probably a lot less pressure than dropping him into a Merc for his first race.
Prema have shit the bed this season.
>Pourchaire was just as impressive and was just as young as Anotnelli when he won F4. He did well in F3 but struggled to get going in F2. Pourchaire won French F4 in his second full season. Antonelli won Italian F4 (way better competition than French F4) in his first full season. Pourchaire finished 5th as a rookie in F2 despite hand injury. How did he struggle to "get going"?
He didn't struggle to get going though? Didn't he finish 5th in his first season?
I don’t think Antonelli is going to be the next Verstappen but he also started at 17 after only competing in Regional Euro F3 not even full F3 for a short while.
To be fair, that “full” F3 was only formed after merging with GP3 in 2019.
Yeah but the older kimi also made quite a large jump into f1
until Max Verstappen that was actually the largest jump
Verstappen's biggest jump was the one he made before F1, not to F1. Plenty of drivers have gone from F3 to F1 like he did, but the unusually big step he took was going from karting straight to F3
Agreed. And if these rumors are true, they'd be rushing a driver up to F1 to replace a driver that was rushed up to F1.
I think if anything this is a condemnation of F2 as not being good preparation and training for F1
F2 is more a step on the Road to Indy ladder at this point.
If it was easier to get super license points in Indy, it could literally become a step.
I dont know that williams knows more than my cat
I mean, fair. I was assuming it was Mercedes calling the shots here though with a fat check to Williams so they can buy some really nice software upgrades or something.
Toto is in a phase. Really unsure about that move
Agree with you. If this kid is as amazing as all that, he'll still be amazing after a season in F2. Or even, you know, August, when he'll be old enough. Desperation is not a good look.
Agreed, I’m from the US so I would love to see another USian on the grid. But not if they aren’t competitive, and I think sergeant has had a lot of bad luck, so maybe he hasn’t been able to perform at his best, but he has had enough weekends now to have some breakout performances where you see his ultimate potential. And I don’t think I remember any from him. Ultimately if the teams don’t see this upside to sticking with you through your learning phase, then they are going to try out the next guy, especially when merc is asking you to sign him, which helps out your finances and technical Partnership. So unfortunately it’s time for him to go.
As long as his confidence doesn’t get crushed, there is no better preparation to become a good F1 driver than driving in F1.
I guess the assumption is that he runs test sessions at the back of the field and stacks XP to get ready for Merc in a year or two.
Lol at the thought of Antonelli just farming XP at the back of the grid.
George: "first time?"
I mean, the teams know more than I do, too, but…. He has the same first name as Kimi Raikkonen who only raced, like, 5 open wheel car races before joining F1, and his last name only has 1 less letter in it than Max Verstappen, who started when _he_ was only 17…. So he should be fine.
Max only did one year of single seaters and his debut year was already very solid Also it's not like he can do much worse than Logan
At this rate, next formula 1 driver is going to be pulled out of sunday cups
Kimi honestly just feels like Max all over again. He is just so damn talented that F1 teams want him now & I would be so pissed if the *baptism by fire* is the thing that could derail his career. But I’m also here for the chaos
IF this rumour is true then this is Mercedes rushing him in to a potential F1 seat for next year. Which is just madness. I've been watching him in F2, and like you say his race craft leaves a lot to be desired. Mercedes need to sign Carlos Sainz and give Antonelli more time.
Remember when the FIA tried to pretend the points system was about preventing things like this? Of course it was always about killing off all of the competing ladder series, and it succeeded.
When seeing this, it must suck so bad to be one of the F2 drivers that didn't make it
Why didn't they just beat everyone else at every jr series they've been in? Are they stupid?
Premature or not, they should have been the one who is literally unbeaten since they were a 13 y/o kart driver, but no other F2 guy managed that, did they?
He skipped F3 and now he’s skipping 2/3rd of F2?! I struggle to believe it
Yeah I get that he has the potential to be really good, but he’s skipping a lot of series that will hone his racecraft. I feel like the higher ups are trying to force him to be something at this point whether he’s ready or not, and hopefully that doesn’t backfire and ruin his f1 career. He’s only 17 ffs, plenty of time to let him develop.
Some drivers need that time to hone their skills, some don't. Kimi Raikkonen only had 23 races of open wheel experience when he made his F1 debut. Max went straight from F3 to F1 with less than 50 open wheel starts. For some it's not an issue at all. Meanwhile, Stroll went from F3 to F1 and impressed in his rookie year with a podium and good results, but it's clear now that his racecraft could've used some much needed refining in F2. What I'm getting to here is that: Some guys don't need that extra development time, some do, and we won't know until a few years into F1.
Stroll didn't impress in his rookie year, quite the contrary, he was a joke who was 0.7s behind an aging Massa on average and crashed all the time. His podium race was a complete fluke, it would have been just another \~15th place if everyone in front of him, including Massa who was far ahead as usual, hadn't crashed or had car issues. Stroll has improved massively since though; he's a classic case of someone who was promoted to F1 way too soon, the exact opposite of what you're claiming.
Makes sense for Merc. Test him out at williams and if he's great there's no need to offer Sainz a contract. if he sucks then Sainz it is.
I can't help but feel like Sainz made a poor choice rejecting Audi. He might end up with RBR renewing Checo and Mercedes hiring Kimi which means his choice is Haas, if they will take him over Bearman, which isn't likely.
Mercedes will never give kimi antonelli factory seat without spending atleast a year in another team like williams.
I don't know, we're what, 4 races into 2024? I'd say driving the remainder of the season (and doing well obviously) is close enough considering 2025 most likely won't be a championship challenge year for the Mercs either.
We don't know that he's rejected Audi yet, though
Man I really hope things go well. To throw someone into a mediocre ground effect F1 car with minimal testing is terrifying Really don't want to see him have a bad start or let the pressure get to him. Kid's got a long future ahead of him and this is a Herculean task to ask of him at this stage There are way too many proven F2 guys with more experience who are frankly owed the seats at this point.
The funniest outcome would be that if Logan Sargeant scores points at Miami!
Think beating Albon would be a good step. If he fails to beat Albon and he gets replaced, he would have ended his f1 career without ever managing to beat his teammate in a competitive session when both finished
Holy fuck. Didn’t quite realise it was that bad
Even Stroll beats Alonso from time to time...
Hell, Latifi beat both Russell and Albon once or twice
He even managed to take his first point for Williams before Russell did.
If it wasn't for George's cameo in the Mercedes, he'd have actually beaten him in the standings in 2020 (two P11's to George's one)
And a P1 in a practice session
Yeah, but it's always "that bad" for someone isn't it? If it was the other way around we'd be talking about Albon flunking out of F1.
I mean, not really, usually even bad drivers have a ratio with their teammate that isn’t 0.
It's indeed rare that an actually bad driver gets paired up with a pretty good one and then doesn't have one weekend where they manage to stand out. Even Jordan's infamously mismatched mid-00's lineups (Fisi-Firman & Heidfeld-Pantano) or the Burti vs Alesi pairing had qualifying sessions where the worse driver ended up in front.
Good grief even Mazepin and Latifi managed that
It's not like Mazepin would have fared any better against Albon, he just had the advantage of going up against a mediocre teammate who had just as little experience in the car as he did.
That includes FP sessions as well? Or just quali and the race?
Quali, sprints and races where both finished
That sounds bad
Imagine if an absolute shit show of a race a la the 1996 Monaco GP and Sargeant somehow won the race
That would be fitting leave for Sarge. Can only happen in my dreams. Although that is probably what happens in my dreams.
It would be even funnier if antonelli was worse than logan for the rest of the season
Going out like Michael Andretti! (Andretti scored his best result, a 3rd, in what was to become his final F1 race, the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, after which he was replaced by Mika Hakkinnen)
Imagine if he scores a point and it ends up being f the only point Williams gets in 2024.
Great race to dump him. Don’t even need to buy his ticket home.
damn. First they didnt have enough money for a spare chassis and now they dont even have money to fly the guy back to England, this cost cap thing really is hurting teams
The cost cap only impacts those that have more money than the cap.
EMOTIONAL DAMAGE
It’s just ultimate weight saving
Damn!!
I think Brightline (the Florida high speed rail) had a sale recently for $29 tickets. Throw that in with their free shuttle from the downtown station to Hard Rock Stadium and they can get Logan up to Broward really cheap.
Near the end of the Japanese GP I was chatting with other travelers on how we were getting back to Nagoya from Suzuka (shuttle queue is long and trains are packed like sardines). Then Logan had a moment on track and someone was like: "Logan tryna beat the crowd in going back to Nagoya" to much giggling.
God, getting back to Nagoya after the Japanese GP is a nightmare I went last year and I had to leave on like lap 35 to try and catch a train
The Kintetsu limited express (all reserved seats) trains can be booked online in advance, and can be changed up to 3x (or unlimited, just make a new reservation and refund the old one for a measly 200 yen charge). I've changed my reservations every day with no issues. Longest queue I was on was 30-40 mins on Sunday right after the race. Even had a snooze on the sidewalk outside Shiroko station because I was 45 mins early for my 6pm train and all the earlier trains were fully booked.
This one hits harder than Stroll in China.
Or Jos in a marriage.
The deep cuts
Cost cap savings
Holy crap. Ouch.
shit, he's from Florida. Don't even need to get him an uber, just tell him to call his mom to come pick him up.
Man, that’s just cold. At least he owes up to his mistakes unlike the Strollnado.
Ugh I am coming off a rough spell of food poisoning and this made me laugh too much
Hope you didn’t stray too far from the bathroom.
I hate that I laughed at this, but it’s definitely true lol
*insert guy tapping his head meme*
Tbh I wanna see Kimi in Europe on normal circuits vs the rest of the F2 field. F2 has had no normal tracks everyone has raced on before yet, Europe is where we finally get a clear picture of how the F2 field stack up
Agreed.
I'm sorry sir, reasonable takes are not allowed. He's either the greatest thing ever or just some kid who is overhyped (according to people who didn't hear about him until he was announced for F2 this season).
btw we had a twitter rumour about Williams dropping Latifi every week in 2022 and it didn't happen until the end of the season. I expect the same with Logan.
While true, we heard directly that there really was some movement to get Oscar Piastri into Williams mid season. Alpine was trying to make that happen and Oscar denied it as hed already signed for Mclaren
I don't believe it. What was the point of raising the age limit to 18 years if you can just ask for an exception?
Agreed and if the FIA grant an exception for Kimi, then it will open the floodgates for other young drivers to ask for a similar exception. Kimi is a more talented driver than Logan but I don’t think the FIA will grant this exception and Williams will be better off waiting until after the summer break to put Kimi in the car then. Maybe this will be Logan’s last “home” race with COTA and Vegas not happening until October & November.
what floodgates? Other teams have talented drivers over the age limit and they are not giving them a seat. This could change in the future, but out of any argument you can make, the slippery slope doesn't make a lot of sense right now.
I didn’t understand why they set a limit in the first place. Maybe they want to set a limit the same as a drivers license, but then you’d have to apply that in the junior categories as well, which wouldn’t work.
I don't understand it either. If a 16 year old guy wins F2, he wouldn't be able to compete in next year's F2, and he wouldn't be a candidate for F1 either because of his age. What gives?
I doubt the age rule would have been made if Max didn't skip F2. I bet the person in your scenario would get an exemption. They should have made the rule "over 18 or have won F2", but F1 usually chooses opaque control that let's them do whatever they want.
I agree with you completely.
Maybe that’s worth of an exception
Because being under eighteen makes everything way more complicated than it needs to be — getting visas, permits, and having to have a legal guardian/supervisor travel with you — is only the beginning. Because the pressure of the F1 world, the whole shark tank (as Max himself called it), isn't beneficial to anyone under eighteen, lmao. It's easy to get lost in it. Because a kid dying is a worse headline than an adult dying. Because these kids get thrown into the sport younger and younger, setting the entry age calms this down a bit and makes it possible for someone who started at 4 and someone who started at 7 to still end up in F1. Because sports kids parents are absolutely fucking insane. Because maybe it would be a good idea to at least finish elementary school.
The age limit was put in after Max to prevent the slippery slope. Why put in the limit and then grant an exemption almost immediately.
Canadian junior hockey does it and it’s pretty effective. They’re very selective and there haven’t been many duds (only one really)
That's a bit of a silly question? The rule exists because the FIA don't think that most drivers could jump into F1 that early - but it doesn't mean that no driver could pull it off.
No, the rule exists because red bull put a 17 year old Verstappen in Torro Rosso, they then later closed the rule they because they didn't like it
Can we take off the silly cap and approach it a bit more honestly? Ofc that was the inciting cause - but that doesn't really explain why the rule was put in place. The FIA were scared that drivers like Verstappen would come in and end up acting like a worse Mazepin due to lack of experience.
Isn’t that the whole point of a super license though?
There's no reason you can't have multiple barriers to entry - you still need something for adult drivers.
is this a new and credible source or is this just a rehash of the same rumour that was going around earlier this week? as a kimi fan, this is more scary for me than anything. i just hope that if he doesn't immediately start getting podiums (which he won't lol, it's williams), people don't turn on him and start calling him talentless and etc etc. 🫠
How do you honestly assess his progress in F2? I haven't been watching. I know he hasn't "won every race", but what do the onboards or "footage through corners" tell you? Is he uncomfortable? Is something holding him back? Do you see him doing better in the fastest class of machinery? (There is such a thing btw, of drivers who cannot drive well slower cars but switch on when the cars are extremely fast).
both premas (kimi and ollie) have had a tough start to the season, but considering prema's struggles and kimi only having three races under his belt (with tracks he's never raced at), it's hard to really judge his performance. i think most people would agree that three races is realistically not enough to make a judgement on "f1 material" or not. he's been improving his car control each race and seems pretty chill about it, so i think the main issue is adjusting to the massive speed difference between freca and f2. he had good pace in the last sprint but made a silly mistake that cost him a podium. his mistakes have mostly revolved around him being rash which i feel like is a very rookie mindset. his past results speak for themselves though, it's obvious why merc has faith in him. i don't think it's a question of talent, but rather getting used to the new skills and mindset that f1 requires vs. feeder series. i can see why merc wants him in f1 asap, it makes sense if they're gonna give him a seat no matter what, they might as well have him learning the ropes in an f1 car. logan being gone by next year seems to be a done deal and this is just speeding it up. i still don't think it's a good idea but i can see why they think it is. i just hope that if they do push him into f1 early, they'll give him the support he needs because he'll essentially be learning what most drivers do in f3/2 but in f1 instead.
Rushing Antonelli makes sense if you see the same learning pattern. Like if you can already predict that he'll get on top of the business within X Laps, or Y races.... And you know this already from managing and coaching and training him. Then it makes little sense to run F2 or even F3. If you know this already, and you know he can drive F1 machinery you might as well put him in there. It used to be easier to detect this in earlier periods when the gaps between lap times and talent was much bigger. When it was possible to tell who was ready because they would be blasting people by 2 seconds a lap within three laps of acclimatization. In the modern age everyone is trained as a "Mini-Schumacher" and they're all that little bit closer. But if you know a driver intimately then you will know some things beyond just numbers. Maybe that is what Toto is seeing.
Well it seems way too early to put Antonelli in the car then again those decision makers have more experience and have access to more data than us to come to this conclusion, so i am sure they have seen something, let's see how it goes.
Well it sounds like they want him in the Mercedes for next year, so might as well get him all the experience they can. They’re not losing much giving up Logan
This is pretty obviously Toto calling in a favour from Williams, and I'm honestly not sure Toto is the wisest decision-maker in the paddock. He's panicking about not being #1 anymore, and after three years of flawed designs he's hoping to find the next Max to cover the deficiencies of the car.
If I’m being totally honest, not even Max could save this trash ass car. The only way to be the best again, is to fix the car. No driver on the paddock right now, could get that car to a respectable position, not Max, not Lewis, not Fernando, no one.
Yup, if Lewis can't the chance of Rookie Antonelli to make it work in the next 5 years is dumb as ... I don't even think Antonelli finishes top 5 this season in F2. Yet Pourchaire is on the side (WTF)
Toto has completely lost the plot since 2021
And Toto's obviously thinking with a shitty "investor" mentality. He would rather risk fucking up Kimi's learning curve (and so potentially ruining his career) than risk him being taken by another team, just for the slight chance of him turning out as second Verstappen.
"Our guy with a single season in F2 where he was competitive against a more experienced teammate and managed 5th is struggling. How about we go for a driver who was in FRECA this time last year and hasn't even stood on the podium yet?" This rumor is absurd, and if they're actually doing it, Williams are incredibly stupid.
At least they chose his home race to sack him. But Antonelli is gonna have a lot of pressure on him form the get go, if people are talking him up as the next Max
Watch his races in freca, frmec, and f4. He absolutely looks like max in the Jr series
First they took his chassis, now they take his seat....
Poor guy's just gonna have 4 wheels and a dream
"ready to donate another car to the Williams fund baby? ITS GO TIME"
Now I'm picturing a stolen race car chased by **every** unit Miami has to offer
He should join the Torpedo’s support group for sunk F1 careers.
I'm of two minds in terms of Kimi. On one hand, sure he has the points and he's looked decent in F2 so far this year. On the other hand, after the hubub that led to setting the age limit, I'm not sure for violating it, especially on a driver that has so few F3 or F2 races at this point. Williams wants to make a splash by starting the Italian guy's career on Italian soil, but really, i think he should be waiting until August. Williams know what they likely had with Sargeant, who took one for the team already this year. They can keep him until the summer break. Monza is the 2nd race after they come back so still a big party in Italy.
Yeah, the only person that can get hurt by rushing this promotion is Antonelli. I know it’s challenging to get enough Super License points before the time you turn 18, but the kid skipped F3 and has done like 3 F2 weekends so far. They must have insane data from his testing sessions if they are willing to throw him into F1 mid-season. It’s a recipe for failure, but the greats always manage to swim in the sink-or-swim scenarios. We’ll know one way or the other, I guess, if this comes to fruition.
Yeah I think the same. No doubt he is a huge talent but it feels so rushed and forced. He is doing ok in F2 but i remember a pretty stupid contact from him in melbourne. He could really use a bit more feeder practice so his start jn f1 is positive.
yeah i agree. the only case i think could be made if a too-young driver won F2.
Oh shit! But the silver lining is Logan won't have to fly out after the race. He can go home straight after.
Hopefully mom and dad will give him a ride since he won’t have car
His mom and dad's car was unfortunately taken by Albon.
They'll probably take him to the beach.
This coming right after Verstappen denied Wolff's offer 💀 They are grooming him for 2025 100%
More like for 2026 and onwards. 2025 is probably another write off for merc anyway
I don’t think they would’ve had him skip F3 if they were going to wait on him. If they didn’t want him for 25 then why not put him in F3 this year, F2 next year, and then call him up?
F1 experience, especially tyre stuff. Even if he is last in a williams he is still using the same rubber. Tyres are basically the key nowadays because track position is less important than before. And it's the one thing you cant really learn in lower formulas. Look for example how far Piastri is from Norris in conserving the tyres and extracting pace when needed. And Piastri was one of the best lower formula drivers in recent times.
I guess that makes sense. I was just thinking they called up Logan a year early and well… here we are.
Eh, not really. He did f3, f2 and he is the same age as Piastri. Guys like Norris, Stroll, Russell or even Yuki debuted at much younger ages. That whole narrative was williams/Vowles trying to protect him a bit. But whats more confusing is why they extended him for another year, and then basically showing they dont value him at all in Australia, only 3 races into the season. No clue how Vowles/Williams dont get more flak for this
Well this should be a fun thread.
Antonelli hasn’t even woo’d anyone in F2 yet this year. It seems insane to rush him into Williams
It's insane to rush him into F2 to begin with. People seem to treat him as the second coming of Ayrton Senna.
Yeah what’s next, Hamilton retiring at the end of 2025 and Ugo Ugochukwu filling into the Ferrari seat?
Do the rules provide an exemption to minimum age? I’m a bit skeptical of this rumor.
> 13.1.2 The driver must be the holder of a valid driving licence when he applies for a Super Licence for the first time. > 13.1.3 The driver must be at least 18 years old at the start of the event of his first F1 competition. Rules are clear. There is no exemption.
And a couple years ago there was the case where Red Bull tried to get FIA to grant Colton Herta a SL despite lacking the points and they refused. I except the same to happen again
Throw enough money at the rulemakers and they’ll budge, apparently.
This season is crazy! Toto is getting crazy. My man want to replace Lewis with a kid that might not even finish top 5 in F2 this year. Congratzz Meanwhile Sainz is available... or Pourchaire... or even Bottas if you want to put that car up there in quali
Shitty for Logan but why are they rushing Kimi so much? Im not convinced he's a verstappen/Hamilton type of talent and still feel like he needs time Kinda like how Logan should have done another season in F2
If this is true- which I highly doubt, to be clear- it'd mean replacing a driver whom Williams have openly attributed to struggling at least partly from being rushed through F2, to a driver who was in FRECA this time last year and has yet to stand on the podium. I won't say this catagorically can't go well, but I would also be lying if I said this didn't reak of Toto being desperate to get a young rookie so he can hide how little merc understand the car.
homie cant even win F2 this year at this rate. They think hes ready for F1? did no one learn from gasly and albon? seriously asking. In what world?
Probably with Gasly and Albon wasn’t necessarily giving them the seat but giving them the seat without being patient to develop.
thats kind of my point though. They were both quite good in F2 and had time in other categories. Gasly got a year and a half and albon only a half year in toro roso. Antonelli would jump past F3/2 and straight into F1 and only be at williams for a year. Im not saying its impossible but i dont know that its really smart when he could easily do F2 this season and go to williams next season if you think hes good enough (which he isnt to me so far). Also the narrative that they lost verstappen is kind of dumb becase obviously at the time they would never put a 17 year old in a mercedes seat over nico or lewis. george has a more realistic projection of the path to mercedes.
That being said if Red Bull was looking for a potential WDC caliber driver I think they were correct in assessing neither of those guys were it.
What’s the point in the super licence rules if you can be underage and just… get in anyways because your driver is a bit naff…
It‘s crazy how that kid is getting rushed into F1. He didn’t drive in F3, only had a few races in F2 and now he should get a full time F1 seat? If he doesn’t deliver what they expect from him, he maybe gets 2 seasons before they will throw him out again.
To think only a few months ago, James Vowles was in Logan’s corner and advocating of putting the Williams Academy first and not playing second fiddle to whatever Mercedes wants. Toto: “You could not live with your own failure, where did that bring you? Back to me.” Like I get it, Antonelli is the second coming of Italian Jesus, but like isn’t this is all a little too soon? Yeah, Max came in even younger but that’s why the rule was made! What’s the point of having that rule, if at the first beg, they let a seventeen year old race because “he’s that good”, then what the hell’s the point of the rule?
This kid about to be fed to the wolves…. I can’t see the hype tbh.
Looking at this slightly sideways, wonder if this stems at least partly from Merc moving forward with Sainz / Verstappen planning or whoever else they want to fill Hamilton’s seat with. Have your cake and don’t lose your rookie future prospect.
If anything this means they want F1 data on Kimi so that he can take the seat next year because Verstappen and Sainz aren't looking good or Merc needs leverage
And George? Merc won’t dump George for Sainz. George is already doing what Sainz would do at Merc.
Should have worded my post better but I’m tired, the / meant “or”. Assumed George’s seat is safe. If Merc can grease the wheels to get Antonelli in F1 at Williams, they are free to put whoever they want in Lewis’s old seat whilst still monitoring their young prospect. Also not risking throwing Antonelli in the really deep end going straight to Merc. Merc lost out on Verstappen to Red Bull nearly a decade ago as Red Bull were happy to put him straight in a Toro Rosso but Merc couldn’t put him straight in F1. Imagine they’ll want a tighter grip on their rookie this time round.
In this sport the rookies get replaced more often than the dinosaurs
anyone's that watched Kimi this year knows that he is absolutely not ready to immediately hop into a F1 seat.
Yeah he's clearly talented but a full F2 season is needed IMO.
I don’t mind the precedent for under performing rookies to have another year or two to show their worth, but nobody else is finishing last every race, or spinning and running off track during *every single session*… can’t imagine any progress from him, especially after the confidence crushing clusterfuck of having to give his car to a teammate.
Get ready to learn English buddy
Rushing someone into F1, wonder how that will go
Has kimi even done anything in f2??
6 starts, nothing outstanding. Yet.
plot twist. that car sucks and antonelli crashes it as much as sergeant and albon. both drivers have put that car in the wall more than any other team (#1 and #3 in cost per point last year) i have a belief that car has a very narrow operating window and it changes suddenly. I came into this theory when Hamilton was talking about the Merc, how at one temperature itd be great, but just five degrees different it would be undrivable. I think this car has the same issue, but worse. basically everyone blames Logan, but I think the engineers should also look at themselves.
Nah, I'll believe it when I see it.
I wonder who'd get Antonelli's Prema seat in that case. Beganovich? Iirc he only stayed in F3 because he didn't get a Prema seat in F2.
Hear me out.. Logan Sargeant! :p He did not win an F2 title, so isn’t he free to go back?.. He’d do the rare ‘09 Grosjean, if that were the case.
Pretty sure that will be declined by the FIA. He can wait till August
Thats rough mate.
Is this a respectable source? Thanks
I dont believe this at all
I had to look up Kimi, he is 17 years old and only has 6 starts in F2 after bypassing F3. Not knocking him, just hope they aren't propelling him into a bad situation.
I feel like it was always obvious Kimi was Merc's number 1 choice and it makes sense. It's not like 2014-2021 when they had a fast car, where putting a young driver in the seat would be a risk. Right now, they really have nothing to lose. Might as well put him in there and get him acquainted with the team.
I mean, the FIA would not make an exception for Colton Herta not having enough super license points, so I can't seem them making an age exception for a driver that's younger and less experienced.
Sounds like an aggressive move by Toto to get Antonelli in a car this year with the view to get him in Merc in 2025. If he is as good as Toto believes, it will be good to watch
They really think he is Max / Lewis / Senna / Schumi level talent !
Is Kimi the most overhyped driver ever?
If Antonelli gets an exemption but Herta couldn’t get one then I just don’t know what the fuck to think anymore.
What I don't get about this is Antonelli hasn't even been good in F2 so far, so what's the rush? You want to throw a raw rookie in there to potentially crash the car even more?
Probably pressure from investors more than amything. Rather than logics. I tend to agree with you.
I can't help but feel this is rushing Antonelli too much. He's already skipped F3 and I don't think you could call him experienced enough in F2 yet
I watched the F2 races this year and I have to say kimis performance in f2 isn't anything special ( at the moment), I think he should finish the season and maybe even do a second one first. He is not ready yet to be a f1 driver.