Miami, Florida – Elke Rookie driver in Formula 1 has large shoes to fill, but some shoes are larger than most.
Such as the shoes of a seven -time driver champion and one of the living legends of the sport.
But that is the situation in which the young Kimi Antonelli was when Mercedes called him as the replacement for Lewis Hamilton, when one of the largest drivers of the sport made the shocking step to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season. On the task of stepping into those shoes Antonelli you performed Admirlock and scored points on four of the first five race weekends of the 2025 campaign. While the schedule in Florida arrives for the Miami Grand Prix, Antonelli is sixth in the rankings of the drivers, a place for the driver he replaces.
The Rookie driver has credited his growing confidential as a reason for his start on Thursday in Miami.
“Well, it is certainly a new song and also looks pretty difficult. It is clearly the sprint weekend, so only one training and then immediately in Sprint qualification,” Antonelli started at the meeting with the media, Bueñing SB NationOn Thursday.
“So clear that it is a bit different from what I am used to in Jeddah or Bahrain, but I think that Scholause that gaining more confidence with the car weekend at the weekend, I think it will be a little easier to get at speed, to have more faith in the car and to have more confidence to push it to the limit.”
Antonelli admitted that he is still looking to find the right balance between bringing in his laps and finding the absolute limit of the W16 each racing weekend.
“Of course I am not still where I want to be in terms of driving and pushing to the limit, but every weekend I have the feeling that I am taking a step forward,” continue with Antonelli. “Tomorrow is the song, it will be quite dirty too, so it will be a whole, I think, unique session. But it will be really crucial to start with the right rhythm and to build a lap, to be as good as possible for sprint qualification.
“Of course I think it will not be easy, but I think we can still produce a good result.”
Antonelli also spoke about stinging the right balance between aggression. Earlier in the day, Oliver Bearman spoke about how one of the difficult things he found in adapting to life in F1 is where the limits are and how much he can push the car. Bearman spoke about his year, reached a difficult start in the seasonal race in Australia, and how to “learn the hard way” to find that balance.
Antonelli outlined how he feels in the same way.
‘Well, I also had to read in the hard way.
“I have the feeling, you know, this approach is a good mindset
“Of course you want to build up, but you already want to start with a good level of pushing, because if you start too far away, the I am really hard to catch up.
“So I think it is important to have the right approach, but really important to have the right mindset with how you, you take the session.”
Antonelli discussed the size of this weekend, the second F1 sprint of the 2025 campaign. He was asked what format he prefers – the standard racing weekend with three practice sessions or an F1 Sprint race with a single practice session before F1 Sprint qualification – and the Mercedes Rookie joked that his answer could depend on the results.
“If things are going badly, I would want Probablay the normal weekend with all three practice sessions,” Antonelli started a smile.
However, he noted that driving in Formula 2, where thoughts were a single practice session before he qualified, you prepared him for F1 Sprint -weeks.
“Like I said, you know, last year was always like that. A free practice and the directly in Qalifying, and it was always really tough Becleses in F2 We go with the harder compound and go into qualifying with the soft compound without even trying to try to try it in free practice.
“Of course driving in F1 is very different and it is more effort and it is harder on the sides, but I think F2 is preparing you well for this kind of weekend,” continue with the Mercedes Rookie. “Because it special prepares you for the news of the weekend.”
In the end, however, it all comes back to his self -confidence.
“Yes, I mean, every weekend I have more faith in the car, more aware of what the car is capable of, and more aware of making changes,” Antonelli added.
Tomorrow the young driver will try to get even more Confide, in one practice session prior to the F1 Sprint qualification here in Miami.
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