Mercedes junior touted to be the 'next Max Verstappen' takes another step closer to F1 by winning another championship

Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been making the headlines in single-seater motorsports, especially in Formula 1. He recently won the 2023 FRECA championship after the race in Zandvoort, with two races still to go in the season. This shows the dominant season he has had in the junior category. Antonelli has also won Italian F4 and Formula Regional Middle East championships in 2022.

Hence, there have been several talks about the 17-year-old. Expected to be someone who can quickly work his way up to F1, he is being touted as the next Max Verstappen.

Since he is a Mercedes junior, their F1 team's boss Toto Wolff has praised Andrea Kimi Antonelli but also commented on how he should not be overhyped, despite having great potential.

Earlier this year, before Antonelli won the FRECA championship, Wolff said (via PlanetF1):

“I think we will all hope that Andrea can make a great career. But there is always the risk that if you create too much hype around a young driver, that he’s not left in peace to do anything.

“He is in FRECA, he dominated F4 last year in a solid way. He’s won those championships and won in go karting, and he is leading the championship in FRECA. We see how FRECA goes, then will take a decision what to do, together with his father and Kimi, what are we doing next year? And in which directions to go? But I’m happy that there is an Italian in the starting blocks for a great career.”

Now that the young Italian has won FRECA as well, Mercedes will be looking into Antonelli's future and trying to mold him into one of the best drivers under their umbrella.

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George Russell is positive on Mercedes' development timeline for the W14

George Russell is quite positive that Mercedes could at least catch up to Red Bull by the end of 2023 if the team continues to improve the car at a consistent race. When recently asked by Sportskeeda about whether the team could cover the gap, Russell said:

“Yeah, I believe so. I think when we look at our car, we see a number of flaws in it. It's not like we're looking at it scratching our head, thinking where can we improve it? We think there's loads of places that we can improve it.

"We've made some really good findings recently with regards to the aero of the car and some of the bits and pieces on the car, which is looking very promising.”

Mercedes is currently defending second place in the constructors' championship against Ferrari while battling with McLaren for positions. They are aiming to finish the 2023 F1 season as the second-fastest team and catch Red Bull next season.