F1 legend shares video of Kimi Antonelli's stunning overtake on Alex Albon during the Australian GP

F1 Grand Prix Of Australia: Race - Source: Getty
Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team appears during a race ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia- Source: Getty

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill shared Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli's extraordinary overtake on William F1's Alex Albon in the final few laps of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The young Italian driver was one of the five rookies making his debut on the grid at the iconic Albert Park Circuit last weekend.

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Antonelli's debut weekend at the German team did not start on a positive note, given that he was out of the Q1 session and qualifying after finishing P16 for the main race. He also had his task cut out on Sunday, March 16, as the rain had made the track slippery to drive.

Like many others, Kimi Antonelli had his moments in the race. He even spun after overtaking Nico Hulkenberg for P13. However, he quickly recovered, re-passed the German driver, and made further progress when a late rain shower hit the track in the final phase of the race. He made the correct decision to climb the grid to change to intermediate tires from slick and gained a whole host of positions.

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But the Mercedes driver's overtake of Alex Albon in the dying moments of the race caught everyone's attention. The 18-year-old displayed excellent skills behind the wheel and courage to make a breathtaking and risky pass on the Thai driver.

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1996 world champion and former F1 pundit Damon Hill was impressed by the maneuver and even shared the clip on his Instagram stories.

Snapshot of Kimi Antonelli's overtake on Damon Hill's Story...Credits-Instagram/96fichamp
Snapshot of Kimi Antonelli's overtake on Damon Hill's Story...Credits-Instagram/96fichamp

The overtake earned the rookie P4 in his debut race. After starting the race from the back end of the grid, he finished behind his teammate George Russell.

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Kimi Antonelli reflected on his debut race in Australia

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said that the conditions in the main race for his debut were one of the worst.

Speaking with Motorsportweek, the Italian reflected on his comeback drive in the changeable conditions.

“I think today we got all the possible worst conditions for a first race. I mean, we got wet, slicks on damp, slicks on wet, and then back to wet. So, definitely a really, really eventful race. But I’m really happy how it was managed from my side and from the team. Of course, I did a couple of mistakes, especially the spin," he said.
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"But, you know, the conditions were super, super tricky. Also, those white lines were a killer. But, yeah, really happy. The team really helped me throughout the whole race and made all the right calls and I definitely cannot complain about today,” the Italian added.

Kimi Antonelli's P4 helped Mercedes score 27 points on the season's opening weekend, putting them level on points with McLaren.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar
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