Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok explained Kimi Antonelli will be “expected to deliver” at Mercedes in 2025, with the “bar of expectation” for rookies now higher than in previous years.

The highly-rated 18-year-old has been signed to partner George Russell in the 2025 season, with the Italian having taken in around 9,000km of testing mileage to prepare him for his step up, according to team principal Toto Wolff.

Kimi Antonelli ‘expected to deliver’ upon F1 step up

With several rookies having impressed when having taken the step up to Formula 1 in recent seasons, Antonelli is facing the rare scenario of stepping into what is potentially set to be one of the grid’s more competitive cars immediately when he drives for Mercedes in 2025.

With both he and Russell set to be out of contract at the end of the season as it stands, though Mercedes are believed to have options on their drivers that extend beyond 2025, the onus will be on both to impress.

That will include Antonelli, as Chandhok explained, given how some drivers have made an impressive step up to Formula 1 in recent years – with the added pressure of a top team meaning he will be “expected to deliver” as a Mercedes driver.

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When put to him that the pressure will be off Antonelli, given his status as a rookie and the fact he will be replacing a seven-time World Champion in Lewis Hamilton next season, Chandhok replied on the Sky F1 podcast: “I don’t think so. I think whether you’re driving for the team who’s finished 10th in the championship or the team at the front of the grid, as a rookie in F1, there’s nowhere to hide.

“You’ve got people like us analysing every single sector of every single lap that they do. And for Kimi Antonelli, the fact that he’s coming in as a rookie, but with a top team, means you’re expected to deliver – as Lewis was when he arrived at McLaren and got nine podiums straight off the bat, as Oscar Piastri has shown in the last two years.

“You know, the expectations on rookies is high. You can’t just be there saying, ‘Oh, I’m here to learn’, anymore. That excuse has gone with the likes of Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Lewis before that – these rookies have just raised the bar of expectation.”

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