Kimi Antonelli makes his feelings known about his rookie season aspirations with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen records in sight

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli has already made it clear that he would be trying to win as soon as he gets in the car even though he's cognizant of the kind of learning that he still has to do. The young Italian will be making his F1 debut this season and has the chance to break some records set by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. If Antonelli ends up winning one of the first 3 races, he will break Max Verstappen's record to become the youngest F1 race winner.

Looking ahead to the 2025 F1 season, however, while Kimi Antonelli was bullish about his chances and what he wanted to do, the young driver had his feet on the ground and admitted that he didn't have the experience that his teammate George Russell has and that he would try to learn a lot from him. He told Sky Sports:

“I’m going to go with the mind[set] of trying to win, but of course you have to be realistic at the same time. I just joined the grid, I’m in a good team – I’m in a great team, I’m with Mercedes and I’m really grateful for the opportunity I got. But of course I will need to learn, I will try to make the least amount of mistakes, try to learn race by race and then also [try to be] achieving some great results, especially if the speed is there."

Talking about how he would be looking to learn from his new teammate George Russell, who would take up the role of spearheading the team this season, Antonelli added:

“I’m going to try also to learn a lot from my team mate, George. He’s a really good driver and he has shown especially last year what he’s capable of. I’m going to try to learn as much as possible and then we’ll see what we can do.”

On the other hand, there are quite a few Lewis Hamilton records that Kimi Antonelli could beat this season as well. In a season where there are as many as 24 races and Mercedes is still one of the top 4 teams, Kimi can possibly break the Brit's record of ending up with more than 12 podium finishes.

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Kimi Antonelli on him going to Mercedes & Lewis Hamilton going to Ferrari

The grid shuffle up for the 2025 F1 season has brought about an interesting situation, as the young Italian hopeful Kimi Antonelli is going to an English-speaking team in Mercedes. While on the other hand, the Brit, Lewis Hamilton, is going to the Italian-speaking Ferrari.

Commenting on the same, Antonelli said:

“It’s a bit weird because it’s a bit controversial that an Italian driver is going to Mercedes and an English driver is going to Ferrari! But I’m super happy with the position I am [in], and of course there’s a lot of hype around because [there’s] another new Italian on the grid, and then of course such a figure like Lewis joining Ferrari is an incredible thing. I think during the Italian Grand Prix there is going to be a lot of excitement around.”

Kimi Antonelli will be one driver that everyone in the media will have an eye on this season. The young Italian has all the hype from the F1 fraternity and will look to make his mark on the grid next month onwards.