F2 boss sees Antonelli succeeding in F1: 'Mentally strong how he handles pressure'
Interview
- Ludo van Denderen
Andrea Kimi Antonelli finally knows for sure: next season, the 18-year-old will race for Mercedes' F1 team. So no more Formula 2, the class the Italian is competing in this season. The CEO of Formula 2 thus sees an absolute eye-catcher of his class leave, but the Frenchman thinks Antonelli is ready for the step up, he reveals during an exclusive interview with GPblog.
"I think he's a very strong driver, there's no doubt about that," Michel told us. "I think he needs more experience, but in the long run it doesn't matter. In the long run he will be ready. At the moment it's true that he's got massive pressure, because he didn't do F3, he jumped directly into F2. F2 is a brand new championship for him, in the format, in the car, in everything. At the same time he has the pressure of going to Formula 1. I must say he needs to be very, very strong in his head to be able to support all this pressure. But he will be fine, he will be fine.."
'Pressure not easy when you are 18'
During FP1 at Monza - his debut in the '24 Mercedes - Antonelli still crashed. Possibly that was a big learning moment for the Italian. "I'm not in his head, but what I know is that he will be okay. But he's going through a lot of pressure, and it's not easy when you're 18 years old, to go through that, and that's why maybe sometimes he needs a little bit more time," Michel said.
For F2 at least, it is important for Antonelli to move on, as it increases the interest and prestige of the junior series. "It's important to have him [in F2], it was very important to have Bearman as well, and Bearman did the job in Jeddah with Ferrari, it was fantastic. We need these kind of guys who are more stars, I would say, than others. But as I said, it doesn't make their life easy."
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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17 September 2024
