Antonelli casts major doubt over Mercedes F1 promotion

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has made it clear that he does not feel ready to join Mercedes next season.

The 17-year-old Italian has been in the running this term to potentially replace Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time F1 champion joins Ferrari in 2025.

But with refreshing honesty, Antonelli feels such a high-profile move could now be one too soon as he is still plying his trade in F2.

Antonelli's remarks followed his first feature race victory of the F2 season with Prema Racing in Hungary, two weeks after scoring his maiden sprint win over the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.

Asked about the possibility of joining Mercedes next year, speaking to media including RacingNews365, Antonelli said: "I don't know if I will be ready, to be honest.

"I'm still learning a lot in F2, and definitely, I still make quite a few mistakes, [and there are] a few details that really matter, and I'm still not doing them right. I'm still not doing everything right.

"I'm trying to improve and to not make the same mistakes again, and I think today was the proof."

Antonelli's situation has been placed further in the spotlight by the fact his Prema Racing team-mate Oliver Bearman will drive for Haas next season.

Both Antonelli and Bearman have endured a difficult campaign with their team, although the former's recent results have provided a positive. There is now a 51-point gap between the pair.

Despite the win in Hungary, Antonelli refused to dwell on what it might do for his F1 chances.

"About next year, I don't really want to think about it because nothing is official, and I don't know anything, to be honest," he said.

"The goal is to do the best year in F2, and to come away with two wins is really good on the mental side, for the team as well, because we struggled at the start of the season, but now we're building the momentum.

"In Silverstone, it was a win in the wet. So our main focus was to improve in the dry, which we have done this weekend.

"Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going in Spa [next weekend], obviously, a different track, a bit more high speed compared to this track so we'll see how it will play out."