Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a few battles with McLaren star Oscar Piastri and Red Bull racer Max Verstappen during his rookie Formula 1 season in 2025.

The 19-year-old was not always flawless during his first season on the F1 grid after replacing Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows. But Antonelli overcame his mid-season struggles to end the year with three Grand Prix podiums, which was three more than Hamilton had for Ferrari.

Antonelli also set the fastest lap during three of his 24 Grand Prix appearances, and the first instance in Japan marked a new record for the youngest driver to do so. Mercedes even saw Antonelli become the youngest-ever F1 polesitter in the Miami Sprint during round six of 24.

The Japanese Grand Prix during round three was also the first race in which Antonelli started to feel comfortable in his Mercedes W16, as the Italian became the youngest driver to lead a Grand Prix. Antonelli broke the record that Verstappen previously held by a mere three days.

Oscar Piastri gave Kimi Antonelli the same feeling as Max Verstappen of not being able to make a mistake

Antonelli also started to feel more at ease after scoring his debut F1 podium in the Canadian Grand Prix in round 10, as he withstood the pressure from McLaren racers Piastri and Lando Norris to secure P3. Piastri failed to overtake Antonelli in Canada after losing P3 at the start.

Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Holding off Piastri to earn a podium in Canada was a key part of Antonelli’s rookie season, as he knew what it felt like to know that he could not make “any” mistakes. Antonelli also got a similar “feeling” when Verstappen tried to catch him for P2 during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Antonelli told Motorsport.com: “In Japan, in the second stint of the race, I felt really good. Then in Canada, I had the pressure of the McLarens behind me, and I knew I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes to aim for the podium.

“I had a similar feeling in Brazil, especially when Max appeared in my mirrors. And then Las Vegas… For the first time, I felt a unique sensation.

“I had to come back after a disappointing qualifying session, and the only way to do that was to do a very long stint. I found my rhythm, and I started to feel like I was in a tunnel.”

Kimi Antonelli was ‘almost annoyed’ by Peter Bonnington’s radio messages in Las Vegas

The Sao Paulo GP was by far Antonelli’s strongest weekend of his rookie season in 2025 with Mercedes, as the Bologna boy scored P2 finishes in the F1 Sprint and the Grand Prix. He also finished only 0.845 seconds behind Norris after their late fight for the F1 Sprint win in Brazil.

Also, Verstappen finished the Sao Paulo GP 0.362s behind Antonelli, as he managed the gap to perfection to avoid the Red Bull ace breezing past with DRS after being caught in the final laps. But Antonelli was the most at one with his Mercedes during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

After qualifying P17 in Sin City, Mercedes put Antonelli on a long one-stop strategy by pitting him on Lap 2/50. The Italian then felt like he was driving on autopilot en route to securing a P3 finish, but Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington’s radio messages regularly took him out of the zone.

Antonelli continued: “I was doing everything automatically, without thinking too much. It was like putting the car on autopilot. I was driving and I didn’t have a precise perception of every movement. Everything came naturally, automatically.

“I remember that while I was experiencing that very particular sensation, I almost felt annoyed by Bono’s radio messages, because they brought me back to reality.

“They were obviously useful information, but they helped me get out of that tunnel. It was a wonderful feeling, I was driving without thinking about anything else, just instinct.”