2025 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[CMSMJ1]

We'll soon find out ..

[Lasssept]

- Kimi Antonelli says The W16 is a very easy car to drive, very easy to push to the limit.

https://x.com/CampoyNFL/status/1899956925632307349

[Quantum]

I'm hoping Antonelli got all the nerves out of his system last year, and we get to see him produce some fast quali laps without binning it. Russell should have the upper hand in race pace for a while, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing if Antonelli can bring something special to the race later on in the year.

100%!
Excited to see what he can do. Mark Hughes wrote a (paywalled) piece on him yesterday that was interesting.

"If the Mercedes is competitive, it is perfectly feasible that Antonelli will be winning races. His level of raw ability - his natural feel and balance - is super rare and is often seen to most devastating effect through fast corners. There have been wet days in his career thus far where he's been whole seconds faster than his rivals" - Hughes

Isn't it raining on Sunday? (50-1 odd of a kimi win.....might have a flutter)

I think Mercedes have done a great job so far of bedding him in. 226 laps with some big lock ups on day 1 which gradually evolved into a smooth day 3. Tasks set, and carried out. There's been chatter but not much fanfare, which I think will help him. Might very well be tough season for Russell.

[CHT]

I'm hoping Antonelli got all the nerves out of his system last year, and we get to see him produce some fast quali laps without binning it. Russell should have the upper hand in race pace for a while, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing if Antonelli can bring something special to the race later on in the year.

100%!
Excited to see what he can do. Mark Hughes wrote a (paywalled) piece on him yesterday that was interesting.

"If the Mercedes is competitive, it is perfectly feasible that Antonelli will be winning races. His level of raw ability - his natural feel and balance - is super rare and is often seen to most devastating effect through fast corners. There have been wet days in his career thus far where he's been whole seconds faster than his rivals" - Hughes

Isn't it raining on Sunday? (50-1 odd of a kimi win.....might have a flutter)

I think Mercedes have done a great job so far of bedding him in. 226 laps with some big lock ups on day 1 which gradually evolved into a smooth day 3. Tasks set, and carried out. There's been chatter but not much fanfare, which I think will help him. Might very well be tough season for Russell.

If Kimi can finish the race in points that will be consider a good result. To expect him to win race when he hasn't even completed a single race in F1 car, is too much to ask from a rookie. There are too many young talents out there at the moment. Lando, Oscar, Lawson, Max, George, Charles etc are all in their 20s, very competitive at the front.

[Quantum]

If Kimi can finish the race in points that will be consider a good result. To expect him to win race when he hasn't even completed a single race in F1 car, is too much to ask from a rookie. There are too many young talents out there at the moment. Lando, Oscar, Lawson, Max, George, Charles etc are all in their 20s, very competitive at the front.

I'm not suggesting he will win, but I do think it's possible he can win.
In a top 4 car he should be expected to get points, that would be a minimum requirement.
My comment relates to Hughes assessment of Antonelli, and of course the 60% chance of rain along with 50:1 odds for him to win in Oz. That reflects how much of a long shot a win is. But Risk/Reward here is great if you're hedging

[Tonino]

So, we've arrived.

This year, I want to see the car perform well across a wider range of conditions, stable, balanced, and competitive throughout.

For George, I’m looking for a real step up in race pace, like the one I feel Leclerc made last year. We all know he’s rapid over one lap, but I still think he’s lagging behind the top drivers in race pace and tire management, so that’s where I need to see progress.

With Kimi, I haven’t been this excited about a rookie since forever. I’m confident he has the speed, but I want to see clear improvement over the season, especially in tire management. Also, hoping for the minimum amount of crashes. I know they’ll happen, but hopefully not too many. Most importantly, I want to see him race aggressively and not back down in battles.

As for the team, let’s see how the first six races go, but if McLaren is clearly too far ahead, we have to shift focus to 2026. There’s no point burning through the budget chasing an uncatchable target when the bigger picture is making sure we start the next regulation cycle strong.

Good luck team, rooting for you!

[Lasssept]

Russell - McLaren look “absolutely dominant” heading into first race

The car’s feeling good. I think last year, even though we finished in the lowest [position] that we have done in the last three years, we won the [highest] number of races.

I have confidence that this car is going to be slightly more consistent, not quite as peaky. So we might not see those mega highs like we saw in Vegas, and just sort of wiping the floor with everybody, but then hopefully we’re not going to see those lows as well that we saw at a few races.

But we can’t kid ourselves. We know McLaren are without doubt the favourites right now. They look absolutely dominant and I’m sure they’re going to be the ones to beat.

https://www.racefans.net/2025/03/13/mcl ... e-russell/

[erudite450]

Russell - McLaren look “absolutely dominant” heading into first race

The car’s feeling good. I think last year, even though we finished in the lowest [position] that we have done in the last three years, we won the [highest] number of races.

I have confidence that this car is going to be slightly more consistent, not quite as peaky. So we might not see those mega highs like we saw in Vegas, and just sort of wiping the floor with everybody, but then hopefully we’re not going to see those lows as well that we saw at a few races.

But we can’t kid ourselves. We know McLaren are without doubt the favourites right now. They look absolutely dominant and I’m sure they’re going to be the ones to beat.

https://www.racefans.net/2025/03/13/mcl ... e-russell/

George has learnt well from Lewis and Toto, putting pressure on Norris/McLaren

[venkyhere]

As I have always mentioned this since 2022, George Russel, though a clever guy, is too clever for his own good. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else, and that people can't see through his poker moves. By the time he realizes that people have always been privy to his ulterior motives, it will be too late in his career.

[Matt2725]

What an utterly bizarre comment.

Either way, I think Mercedes could surprise this weekend.

[nitrotech]

As I have always mentioned this since 2022, George Russel, though a clever guy, is too clever for his own good. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else, and that people can't see through his poker moves. By the time he realizes that people have always been privy to his ulterior motives, it will be too late in his career.

It's understandable why George is a villain right. Standing up to a bully that is loved by many, would be a good reason to be considered a villain. I still think he has a lot of growing up to do as a villain and when he achieves parking his car on top of another driver's head, may be he would have made it.

[erudite450]

As I have always mentioned this since 2022, George Russel, though a clever guy, is too clever for his own good. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else, and that people can't see through his poker moves. By the time he realizes that people have always been privy to his ulterior motives, it will be too late in his career.

It's understandable why George is a villain right. Standing up to a bully that is loved by many, would be a good reason to be considered a villain. I still think he has a lot of growing up to do as a villain and when he achieves parking his car on top of another driver's head, may be he would have made it.

Hahahahaha

[venkyhere]

What an utterly bizarre comment.

Either way, I think Mercedes could surprise this weekend.

This is the reason : https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/geor ... /10702527/

He is not a 'villain' per se, he is too 'cocky'. That's because in his mind, he is the master of 'mind games'.

[nitrotech]

What an utterly bizarre comment.

Either way, I think Mercedes could surprise this weekend.

This is the reason : https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/geor ... /10702527/

He is not a 'villain' per se, he is too 'cocky'. That's because in his mind, he is the master of 'mind games'.

A perfectly well balanced and factual statement on why Kimi would be on the same pace as him. I didn't see any problem in that statement. Doesn't come across as cocky, it's actually the contrary.

Russell was asked by Motorsport.com if he feels he needs to be well ahead of his Italian team-mate now that he is alongside a rookie instead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. He explained:

"No, not at all. Kimi's an exceptional driver, and I've said this before, I don't feel any faster today than when I was 18 years old, but I'm far more experienced. In a qualifying situation, if I have traffic on an outlap, I know how to deal with that. If my tyres are cold, if my tyres are hot, I know how to react to those circumstances. I know how to deal with the pressures of this sport as well.

"But in terms of outright pace, I don't think I'm any faster today than I was 9 years ago now. You saw it with [Ollie] Bearman last year. Bearman did an amazing job when he jumped in. [Franco] Colapinto did a great job.

"And the same way as when we all jumped in, it was a bit difficult for me because I was with Williams at the back, but you know, when myself, Lando [Norris], Charles [Leclerc], Max [Verstappen] all came into the sport, straight away we were on the pace, so why wouldn't a guy like Kimi be in the same boat?"

[Seanspeed]

Yea that's an extremely sensible take, really. And something I've been saying for a long time - in F1, you typically either have the pace or you dont. It's the most important factor and where the sport tends to weed out weaker drivers. Other issues of consistency and whatnot are things that can potentially be ironed out, but it's usually pretty obvious right away when somebody comes into F1 whether they've got the goods to make a show of it or not. This goes especially for more superstar talent.

I also think it's a mark of mental strength that he's comfortable beefing with Max and getting into head games. Not that I personally like to see cockiness or anything, but all the top guys usually have some level of delusional self confidence that helps them keep their edge.

I really think Russell is the most underrated guy on the grid. And I'm not a fan of him or anything, just assessing his abilities with how drivers are generally talked about. It's not like Russell came out of nowhere either, the guy absolutely obliterated the F2 field on his first try(against Norris no less), much like Leclerc did, all after also winning the GP3 title on his first try. And then he was put into an extremely competitive situation against one of the literal best ever, and done very respectably to say the least.