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Mercedes believe Antonelli can be one of the greats – and that’s why they are putting him in the car now. They believe their junior programme has prepared him well and it’s important to them that, for the first time in their history, both their drivers have come through that system.
They are confident his upbringing, values and personality put him in good shape to cope with the immense pressure that will fall on his shoulders. Initially that will come from Italy, as they have a driver racing in a top team for the first time in a couple of decades, and then from the rest of the world as his talent is put to the test.
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Verstappen has, and still is, delivering on expectation, and while Raikkonen arguably didn’t quite fulfil his potential, he can still call himself a world champion. And then there’s Hamilton, who won the title in his second season and added six more after a challenging period that only made him stronger.
Who knows which way Antonelli will go. But if you talk to those at PREMA, who have immense experience running young drivers, or at Mercedes – who have been following Antonelli for years – the Italian is the real deal.
It’s now up to Mercedes to give him the tools and the support network to extract that talent – and for Antonelli to seize his chance.
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