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James Vowles reveals conversation with Toto Wolff about Kimi Antonelli

Vowles reveals "private conversation" with Wolff about Antonelli

8 August at 13:00
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  • Ben Stevens
  • Editor

James Vowles has revealed details of a private conversation with Toto Wolff regarding Andrea Kimi Antonelli and it confirms how Antonelli is impressive key people within the F1 paddock. The Italian is tipped to be the favourite to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next season despite not setting the world alight in his debut Formula 2 season.

Antonelli's move in Spa leaves an impression

Speaking in the paddock in Belgium to GPblog and others, Vowles revealed a private conversation between himself and Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff about the Italian. "I'll talk to you about something that's very private but I hope Toto doesn't mind," Vowles began; "We were messaging yesterday during the F2 race. And for me what Kimi did is bloody impressive. It was against [Franco] Colapinto, our own driver here.

"He went up the inside and he didn't lift. And for all of you that have at least been in a racing car, you know how tough that move was. That, in the wet, is not just brave, that takes a hell of a lot of skill and he had snaps at the top of Eau Rouge, that's impressive. He's a good kid but he's 17. And answering your question I'll be proud of whatever he achieves because I was part of his journey all the way up until the last few years. But I’m not sure that's going to overlap at Williams."

Antonelli will turn 18 in August 2024. On the face of it, a move straight to front running team is not something that happens often in Formula 1. Even Max Verstappen spent some time at Toro Rosso before moving to Red Bull at a young age. One of the better examples in recent memory of a move straight to the top was Lewis Hamilton, who missed out on the World Championship in his debut season by one point.

Antonelli's form has picked up in recent weeks, which included a feature race win in Hungary. It seems that Wolff has been waiting to see if Max Verstappen was interested in leaving Red Bull, with Antonelli has an option to select if not.