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George Russell feels that his future teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli is better off jumping straight into a top F1 team rather than gaining experience in a middle-order team first. Mercedes recently announced the Italian driver as Lewis Hamilton's replacement in the 2025 F1 season.
Many have questioned Mercedes' decision to sign Antonelli, with some claiming that the 18-year-old does not have enough experience racing in Formula 1. This is due to the fact that he skipped F3, is currently in his first F2 season, and will be driving straight for Mercedes next season without any prior experience with a smaller team.
However, George Russell is confident that Antonelli can succeed at Mercedes. He has claimed that he will be able to learn better at a top-performing team. Quoting his own example, Russell said that he learned more racing alongside Lewis Hamilton in one year than he did in three years at Williams Racing.
"When you’re thrown into cold water, you learn faster," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "From my experience, I can say that I learned more in my first year alongside Lewis than in the three years at Williams."
He further said that Kimi Antonelli has speed and is capable of winning the World Championship.
"Every driver who has won championships in their career is fast. You can place [Kimi] in a top team in his first year, just like Lewis once did at McLaren (…) Kimi will learn from that. Either you have the speed, or you don't. Kimi has it."
"Kimi's exceptionally fast": George Russell addresses Antonelli's pace despite his crash earlier at Monza
Kimi Antonelli had the chance to drive the Mercedes W15 during the Italian Grand Prix weekend. The team replaced him with Russell during the FP1 session. He put in a single lap and while pushing during his second, he crashed at the Parabolica, losing out the rear end of the car.
He wasn't the only driver that suffered from rear grip issues as many drivers complained of the same throughout the weekend.
Addressing the crash, George Russell said that all drivers make mistakes in their early years (via RacingNews365).
"There will be mistakes on the way, as there were for all of us," Russell said.
"I think every single driver on the grid in Formula 1 in their first couple of seasons made very visual mistakes and that's going to be obviously highlighted more for any driver who's at the front of the field."
George Russell also mentioned that Antonelli is "exceptionally fast."
"But Kimi's exceptionally fast and I've got no doubt he's going to be really keeping me on my toes next year. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do together from next year onwards."
Antonelli had been reported to be joining Mercedes for a long time this season after Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari earlier. After much speculation, the team made the official announcement during the Italian GP weekend.
