Russell Dismisses Challenges Related To Antonelli's Promotion Straight To Top Team
F1Sunday, 06 October 2024 at 18:00
George Russell asserted that he believes his 2025 rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli can handle the challenge of his first season in one of the best cars.
A common practice in Formula One is to give rookies a chance to first warm up in slower cars and smaller teams at the bottom of the grid, where the pressure on the performance isn't as high as at the top.
Mercedes F1 driver George Russell started his career at Williams Racing, where he spent three seasons before Toto Wolff decided to promote him to Mercedes to race alongside Lewis Hamilton.
However, it will be different for Russell's 2025 teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will go from F2 straight into the deep water to one of the top teams on the grid.
While there will be immense pressure on the 18-year-old driver to perform, the Briton suggested that going straight into the top team has its advantages. He told AMUS:
"When you're thrown in at the deep end, you learn faster. From my experience I can say that I learned more in my first year alongside Lewis than in my three years at Williams."
"Every driver who has won championships in their career is fast. You can put him in a top team in his first year, like Lewis once did at McLaren."
The seven-time World Champion is one of the few drivers who were promoted straight into the top team. During his first season in 2007, he scored four victories and almost won the Championship, finishing only one point behind Kimi Raikkonen.
Russell is convinced that the best drivers would do well in any team already in their first season and has no doubt that Kimi Antonelli has what it takes. He added:
"I'm sure that Charles [Leclerc] at Ferrari or Max [Verstappen] at Red Bull would have done a good job in a smaller team even without the pre-season preparation."
"Maybe at the expense of one or two mistakes, but that's part of it. Kimi will learn from this. You either have the speed or you don't. Kimi has it."
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