P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Kimi Antonelli will be one of six drivers starting their first full-time season in 2025, driving for Mercedes.
Kimi Antonelli has been cautioned that he won’t have the luxury of using the ‘rookie excuse’ like past drivers when he begins his F1 career this year, stepping into the vacant seat left by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Antonelli, at 18 years old, will be the first driver since Karl Kling in 1954 to start for the team without any prior grand prix experience when he makes his debut in Australia. As one of six rookies this season, the pressure on Antonelli is amplified due to his role as Hamilton’s replacement, with higher expectations placed on him compared to the other newcomers. Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok predicts that Antonelli will face intense scrutiny and won’t be able to rely on the rookie excuse, citing the success of Max Verstappen in 2015 as a standard to meet. Chandhok emphasizes that, regardless of the team’s position in the championship, being an F1 rookie comes with immense expectations, highlighted by the performances of past rookies like Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, and Hamilton. The bar for rookie drivers has been raised, and simply aiming to learn without delivering results is no longer an acceptable approach in Formula 1.
