Ferrari prospect makes his feelings known about "dear friend" Kimi Antonelli making it to F1 in a Mercedes

Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman said this week that he was looking forward to racing alongside former F2 teammate and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in the 2025 F1 season. The Italian has been in the limelight following his successful junior career and also because he will be replacing Lewis Hamilton on the German team.

Speaking with AutoRacer, Oliver Bearman, who will be racing for the Haas F1 team in 2025, said (via The Mirror),

“Kimi is a very fast driver, that's for sure. He's also a good guy, I consider him a dear friend and I'm happy that we'll be together in F1."

There were many eyebrows raised when Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff fast-tracked Antonelli's progress as he skipped the F3 and went straight to F2 from F4. In his only year at the highest level of junior racing, the 18-year-old finished in P6 with a couple of race wins and 113 points to his name.

Kimi Antonelli will race alongside the three-time race winner George Russell in the 2025 season and looks likely to have an opportunity to fight for race wins.

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Mercedes team boss gives his take on Goerge Russell-Kimi Antonelli driver lineup in 2025

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff thinks the 2025 season will be a year of learning for Kimi Antonelli before the new engine regulations come in, in 2026.

The Austrian said he was aware of the pitfalls that he would likely face with the young rookie in his debut season. Wolff said (via The Mirror):

"I think the opportunity is there to fight for victories, and if you can do that, you will fight for the championship. George will settle in as the leading and senior driver, and Kimi is going to learn, and sometimes we will tear our hair out, and other times, we will see moments of brilliance. But it is going to be a year of managing expectations for Kimi and preparing our driver line-up for 2026."

While analyzing the close competition in the 2024 season, Wolff spoke about the team's expectations for 2025, adding:

"When you look at the wins this year, Red Bull's year was defined by victories at the beginning of the year, but you will have better data if you look from half the year with four teams really close. McLaren won six, Ferrari five, us four and Red Bull [nine]. I would love to be in the fight with the other teams, we'd love to compete for victories on merit, but it is not a given, it is absolutely something we need to fight for."

Kimi Antonelli will be one of five young drivers who will get their first full year in F1. The other four are Oliver Bearman, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Jack Doohan.