The British GP weekend was historic for Mercedes. Not only did Lewis Hamilton break his painful 945-day winless streak to take his 104th F1 victory, but his potential successor, Andrea Kimi Antonelli too took the F2 Sprint trophy home. This was a monumental feat for the Italian who stands only P8 in the F2 standings. Earlier, experts severely doubted Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff’s choice of potentially replacing a 7-time champion with a 17-year-old Antonelli for 2025. But after the Italian prodigy’s victory in treacherous wet conditions, it was sweet vindication for Wolff.

On 6th July in Silverstone, the heavens opened. The severe downpour even led to the Sprint Race being red-flagged. While the F2 championship contenders succumbed to the wet circuit, Antonelli held his nerve, going a second a lap quicker than his rivals on some laps. He finished nearly 9 seconds clear of Zane Maloney in P2. His wet-weather ability was sublime, shutting the likes of ex-Mercedes champ Nico Rosberg’s criticism. Unfortunately, Antonelli was taken out in Lap 1 of the main race. But to keep his spirits high, Toto Wolff rejoiced in the Mercedes prodigy’s maiden 2024 victory.

“To see how he walked over the water on Saturday and was two seconds faster than everyone else, you can see the talent and the skills and the potential that this young man has,” Wolff said, as quoted by Motorsport Total. “The victory took a lot of weight off his shoulders, I think,” the Austrian added, referring to the pressure of the media spotlight on the 17-year-old.

On Friday in Silverstone GP, Wolff stated how the pressure would only get bigger for Antonelli. On the very next day, the teenager rose to the occasion and proved his doubters wrong. While the views of the pundits and the analysts are justified considering the absurdity of the driver swap, F1 is unpredictable. After Hamilton’s win, which Antonelli witnessed, the Mercedes boss was further reassured of his bright future.

Toto Wolff witnesses history-in-making with Antonelli following Lewis Hamilton

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives for PREMA Racing in F2, a team that has been struggling in 2024. However, his outright domination at Silverstone made everyone sit up and take notice. Lewis Hamilton‘s even bigger achievement on Sunday made Antonelli’s weekend more special. From the Mercedes garage, he witnessed the 7-time champion create history with his 9th home victory.

Toto Wolff saw the poetry in this scene, narrating how inspired Antonelli might’ve felt, developing the desire to replicate such success in his home race in Italy. “In the garage, you have this young Italian that hasn’t got a driving license even, that was watching that scene. And at the end, he thought, ‘I want to be that one day’. Maybe not here [at Silverstone], maybe [at] Monza.”

Antonelli has a bright future in F1 whenever he’s ready to drive the big boys’ cars, even if it doesn’t happen as early as 2025. For Italian fans, it will be pure ecstasy. Antonio Giovinazzi was Italy’s last F1 driver, driving for Ferrari till 2021. With Antonelli in the Mercedes, Italians will finally get to witness one of their own racing against the world’s best once again.