Mercedes: F2 struggles were key to Antonelli's F1 rise

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Mercedes' decision last year to enter its inexperienced protégé Kimi Antonelli in the FIA F2 Championship was not based on the young gun's mere talent – it was a calculated evaluation process, designed to gauge his ability to overcome adversity ahead of a potential promotion to F1.

Mercedes saw the 2024 F2 season as a proving ground, a place where the young Italian would be forced to confront difficulties he had rarely encountered in his rapid ascent through the junior ranks.

Antonelli's journey to Formula 1 took a unique route, skipping Formula 3 entirely and jumping straight from Formula Regional to F2 with Prema Racing.

Trail by Fire

While his immense skill was never in doubt, Mercedes needed to see how he would react to setbacks, ensuring he was truly prepared for the rigors of an F1 seat.

The challenge was deliberate, as explained by Mercedes Driver Development Advisor and expert scout Gwen Lagrue.

"With Kimi I noticed quite quickly he was already a bit different than other kids in karting," Lagrue told Autosport.

"But back then my thought was: 'Okay, he's the best one I can have in go-karts,' not even thinking about Formula 1.

"Then when we did the first test in single-seaters, the way he adapted himself so quickly to pretty much every situation you started seeing that you have someone very special.

"Of course, that doesn't mean he has everything. You still need to work a lot to help him to grow, to guide him, to also let him make mistakes. It's part of the learning process."

The Reasoning Behind the F2 Challenge

Mercedes opted to place Antonelli in a more demanding environment rather than following the conventional F3-to-F2 path. Lagrue detailed the rationale behind this bold move.

"To me, Formula Regional has developed quite well recently in terms of driver preparation and we have seen over the years that all the kids coming from it – or before when it was called Formula Renault Eurocup – to F3 or F2, they were performing and they were most of the time the ones winning.

"So, when Kimi did perform that well in FRECA, I was not super convinced at that time that first going to F3 will develop him more, and I wanted also to put him in a situation where eventually he could face more challenges, and sending him to F2, of course, it required a bit of preparation.

"But it was also to put him into an environment where he had to find some personal limit he never faced before. I'm not saying that he won always easily, but kind of.

"He was always dominating, and he was always the one to beat, rather than the one chasing someone, even if we had some good competitors, like [Ferrari Junior Rafael] Camara, for example, or a few others, he was on top of everything."

The plan was simple: if Antonelli struggled, a second F2 season would have been an option. But if he excelled, Mercedes would know they had someone ready for the F1 challenge.

"So by doing that, we were making sure that first he will learn the new F2 with the idea of eventually doing another year of F2 if it was challenging, or depending on the situation in F1, make sure that at least we will accelerate his preparation to Formula 1.

"Of course, he was confirming what we were thinking series after series, let's say."

Discovering Antonelli's Resilience

While Prema's reputation in F2 suggested Antonelli could be an instant frontrunner, the season turned out to be far more difficult than anticipated.

This, in Lagrue's eyes, was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed Mercedes to "discover part of him we haven't seen before."

"He was used to winning all the time, or to fighting for the win, and this year was the first time actually he had to deal with not winning and not performing, and sometimes even having really, really tough weekends.

"And I have to say that I was very impressed with his maturity and his leadership in such a difficult situation. And at the end of the day, he has still done a very, very strong season in F2 considering all we had to deal with this year."

Ready for Formula 1

Despite the challenges, Antonelli demonstrated to Mercedes that he had the mental fortitude and skill set required to handle an F1 seat.

His extensive private testing last year in Mercedes' older machinery, along with his two FP1 outings in 2024, further solidified the team's confidence in him.

Now, with Antonelli set to partner George Russell at the Brackley squad, the question isn't whether he has the talent – Mercedes already knows that.

It's whether he can handle the relentless pressures of competing at the highest level of motorsport, and if his resilience forged in F2 will help him thrive in his rookie season.

Read also: Rosberg excited by Mercedes 'bold' bet on Antonelli

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