"It’s obviously too early": Kimi Antonelli's F1 debut timing doesn't impress Jacques Villeneuve

Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve recently commented that Kimi Antonelli's entry in F1 with Mercedes was rushed. The Canadian feels that the team's boss, Toto Wolff, wanted to place Antonelli in F1 as soon as possible, despite his crash at the Italian GP FP1 session.

After Ferrari announced that they had hired Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 F1 season, Mercedes was forced to look for a replacement. Several rumors emerged that the Silver Arrows were looking towards drivers like Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, their junior driver Kimi Antonelli, and even Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Eventually, they decided to give the seat to their protege.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Villeneuve claimed that Toto Wolff already imagined Antonelli as the next Max Verstappen when the Italian was only 11 or 12 years old, and wanted to bring the youngster into F1 as quickly as possible, which according to Villeneuve, was too early. He said (via "PlanetF1"):

"It doesn’t matter what should have happened, Toto decided when he [Antonelli] was 11 or 12 that he had the next Max Verstappen. He will put him in F1 as quickly as humanly possible, which is when he’s 18, ready or not. And Toto will not want to see that he is not ready. It’s obviously too early," Villeneuve said.

After Max Verstappen became the youngest driver (17 years old) to enter F1 in 2016, the FIA imposed a new minimum age rule, disallowing any driver under 18 to participate in the sport. Since Kimi Antonelli already turned 18 in August and had enough points in junior racing categories, he was given the green light to join F1 with Mercedes in 2025.

For now, Kimi Antonelli continues to race in the F2 Championship with Prema Racing alongside Ferrari's junior driver, Oliver Bearman, who will also be debuting in the 2025 F1 season with Haas.

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Former F1 world champion criticizes Kimi Antonelli's 'overdriving' that caused him to crash in the Italian GP FP1

Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve also discussed Kimi Antonelli's crash at the 2024 F1 Italian GP's FP1 session. Before announcing Antonelli as their permanent driver, Mercedes gave him the opportunity to debut in F1 during the Italian GP, his home race.

He drove George Russell's car in the FP1 session and clocked in some impressive lap times early on. However, Antonelli crashed at the Parabolica turn and retired from the session. Despite his crash, Mercedes decided to announce him as their permanent driver for the 2025 F1 season alongside George Russell.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Villeneuve felt that Antonelli's crash in the practice session was not because he was pushing hard and was extremely quick, but because he was "overdriving" the car.

"The way he put it in the wall [at Monza] in his second lap by overdriving right away. Toto’s comments that it proved how quick he was because he drove faster than the car could, no, that means he overdrove," Villeneuve said. (via PlanetF1)

Villeneuve added that Antonelli's future performance depends on how much practice and testing the Italian undergoes in the coming days to expand his experience in F1.

"It depends how much testing he gets now. But obviously, running in F4 is meaningless. You need the experience. You need to race with big cars and he didn’t really get that," he added.