Written by Tiana Soans, Edited by Sean McKean
17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been hailed as Mercedes’ next superstar in Formula 1, with many rumours suggesting he will be replacing Lewis Hamilton from 2025 and onward. Regardless of these rumours, Antonelli full focus is on his Formula 2 campaign in his rookie year.
The headline of Mercedes prodigy skipping FIA Formula 3 caught many motorsports fans' eyes, as this is a rare occasion and many were curious to see how he would perform. This was intensified by Antonelli’s link to the PREMA Racing team, who are hailed as one of the greatest feeder series teams given their high turn-out of F1 drivers.
Let’s take a closer look at Antonelli's results in the first half of the 2024 season!
Bahrain: Navigating a new championship
Qualifying: P17
Sprint race: P14
Feature race: P10
It was a difficult season opener for the Italian, as he struggled to find the pace in qualifying to boost himself into the top 10. This saw him staring at the bottom end of the grid for his first ever Formula 2 races.
However, the qualifying result happened to be his worst result of the weekend, as he was able to elevate himself into P10 on Sunday and collect his first championship point. Whilst being a difficult weekend in comparison to other rookies, Antonelli was able to outperform and outscore his teammate Ollie Bearman.
Saudi Arabia: Steady progress
Qualifying: P6
Sprint rRace: P6
Feature rRace: P6
In Jeddah, Antonelli demonstrated his qualifying ability by securing sixthP6. He was then elevated into fifth when his teammate Ollie Bearman took the call of filling in for Carlos Sainz in F1.
Jeddah is credited as being one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar, and it was evident through the several DNFs in from the race. The Italian was no exception to this carnage, and unfortunately, the Italian driver made contact with the DAMS of Jak Crawford. However both drivers were fine and able to continue racing on.
The feature race for Antonelli proved to be a defensive one, as he was under attack by Crawford and Hauger several times throughout the race. Unfortunately letting both drivers past saw him finish the race in sixth instead of fourth, however, he was given valuable lessons on defensive driving.
Australia: A rollercoaster weekend
Qualifying: P2
Sprint Race: DNF
Feature Race: P4
Australia brought mixed fortunes for the young driver. Describing qualifying as “mMessy, really hard to get the lap right,” Antonelli saw himself lucky to be starting from the front row in secondP2.
Although his sprint race ended prematurely with a DNF on lap 10 of the race, the Mercedes junior was able to somewhat bounce back in the feature race, finishing just short of the podium in fourth.
This was disappointing to the 17-year-old, as he and the team struggled to understand the lack of balance and pace ibn the PREMA car following his mandatory pitstop. Regardless, he Kimi finished ended the weekend in ninth in of the championship, making up two places.
Imola: Consistency is key
Qualifying: P4
Sprint Race: P10
Feature Race: P4
At Imola, Antonelli continued to build on his performance, qualifying in fourthP4.
A quiet sprint race from the Italian saw him finish the sprint race in tenth, just outside of the points. He Antonelli was able to capitalise on his qualifying position and finish in fourth for the feature race. This once again emphasised the consistency from Antonelli, and saw him on 36 points, sixth in the championship.
Monaco: Navigating the streets
Qualifying: P7
Sprint Race: P4
Feature Race: P4
Monaco's challenging street circuit provided a well needed test to Antonelli's skills.
He managed to qualify fourth in Group A, ending up seventh in the combined results. For his first time around the tricky street circuit, he performed well and once again managed to outperform his teammate Ollie Bearman.
Antonelli was able to pick up yet another fourth- placed result in both the sprint and feature races, capitalising off of the chaos that can happen around Monaco. This was yet another strong performance from Antonelli and saw him finish the round remaining in sixth with 48 points.
Barcelona: A tough weekend
Qualifying: P5
Sprint Race: P15
Feature Race: P12
Barcelona proved to be a difficult weekend. Despite a promising fifth in qualifying, Antonelli struggled in the races, finishing 15th in the sprint and 12th in the feature.
A trough weekend for him proved to be costly, as he dropped three places in the standings to ninth.
Austria: Another challenging weekend
Qualifying: P16
Sprint Race: P15
Feature Race: P13
In Austria, Antonelli faced another challenging weekend. This started in qualifying and continued until the chequered flag on Sunday.
Starting from P16 in both races was a challenge in itself. He managed to make up a position during the sprint race and had slightly better luck on Sunday. However, Antonelli’s weekend was overshadowed by his teammate winning his first race of the season. This acted as motivation for the Kimi to get his first podium.
Britain: Mixed fortunes
Qualifying: P10
Sprint Race: P1
Feature Race: DNF
Silverstone was a weekend of extremes for Antonelli.
Qualifying tenth, Antonelli was on the reverse- grid pole for the rain-soaked sprint feature race. Starting under a safety car, the sprint race was incident- filled to say the least. However, the Italian driver was able to hold off any challengers to clinch his first ever victory in Formula 2, at only 17 years old.
Unfortunately, luck in motorsports is very limited, and the feature race ended in disappointment for Kimi Antonelli, as he made contact with Kush Maini into Turn 3 and was left stranded. This weekend was the definition of a rollercoaster of Motorsports.…
The win ultimately saw Antonelli move a place up in the standings to eighth, proving to be a successful yet annoying race weekend.
Hungary: Strategy pays off
Qualifying: P7
Sprint Race: P14
Feature Race: P1
Hungary brought redemption. After qualifying seventh, Antonelli had a tough sprint race, finishing 14th after having his tyres completely fall apart.
However, the real star of the show was the feature race from Antonelli. Being on the alternative strategy, Antonelli stayed out longer than those around him. He was in luck because as he needed it, Amaury Cordeel hit the wall and triggered the safety car.
This left Antonelli in the prime position to take victory, getting past several drivers with under nine minutes to go in the race. This was an insane race from Antonelli, which proved the talent he has. This also elevated him to sixth place in the championship standings.
Belgium: Unshown promise
Qualifying: P5
Sprint Race: P6
Feature Race: P9
In Belgium, Antonelli's consistency showed once more. Qualifying fifth, he finished sixth in the sprint race which saw very limited laps in green flag conditions due to yet another insanely wet race.
Sunday proved to be a brighter day for racing around Spa; however, Antonelli was not gifted a late safety car unlike Hungary. This meant he lost positions to those on the opposite strategy to him.
It was still a successful weekend for the Mercedes junior, though, as he was able to score points in both races and drop only one place into seventh in the championship standings.
Kimi Antonelli's 2024 F2 season has been a rollercoaster, filled with moments of brilliance and challenges. The consistent effort from Antonelli has demonstrated his talent in motorsports and the potential he has to be great in Formula 1.
However, rushing a driver as young as Antonelli into F1 before he believes he is ready may result in him suffering a similar fate to Logan Sargeant. It will be interesting to watch Antonelli’s progress for the rest of the season when Formula 2 returns to Monza.
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