Helmut Marko tells George Russell to be wary of Kimi Antonelli ‘danger’

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes Andrea Kimi Antonelli can be a “danger” to new Mercedes F1 teammate George Russell this season.

Mercedes opted to promote Antonelli as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s replacement from 2025 despite the Italian teenager spending just a single season in Formula 2.

The 18-year-old, who is widely tipped to become an F1 star of the future, made headlines on his practice debut for Mercedes at last year’s Italian Grand Prix when he crashed in the early stages of the session.

While Russell had the edge over outgoing teammate Hamilton in 2024, Marko reckons Antonelli has the pace to cause the Briton a headache during his rookie season.

“We saw it [Antonelli’s talent] at Monza, although I don’t understand why they put him in the car on that circuit,” the 81-year-old Austrian told Sport.de.

“He was very fast on his first three laps, but on the fourth lap, he went into the barriers.

“I think if he uses his skills well, which he has, he can be a danger to Russell.”

Verstappen comparison drawn

Antonelli is viewed as Mercedes’ answer to Max Verstappen, who famously burst onto the F1 scene aged 17.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff unsuccessfully tried to sign Verstappen, who ultimately opted to join Red Bull as they could offer him an immediate F1 seat at their sister team.

Wolff has admitted part of the decision to promote Antonelli was because he “didn’t want to miss out” on having him at Mercedes.

Marko drew a comparison between Antonelli and Verstappen when highlighting the “risk” Mercedes have taken by putting him straight into the works team.

“Antonelli is a risk, but we also took that risk with Verstappen in the past,” he explained.

“Max was very young when he got into that car. But in his case, he wasn’t in a top team [he started with Red Bull’s sister squad] so he had less pressure.”

Wolff has repeatedly attempted to downplay expectations surrounding Antonelli’s debut F1 campaign.

“If you expect him to be on pole position in Melbourne, win the race and immediately compete for the championship, then the risk is high because that won’t happen,” Wolff told Auto Motor und Sport.

“If we take the approach that the boy is 18 years old, very talented, but of course has to grow into it first and will make mistakes, then the risk is limited. That’s why we’re doing it. We see 2025 as a transition year and want to prepare him for 2026.”