'Antonelli still needs to prove himself' according to Red Bull's Marko

Toto Wolff is throwing Andrea Kimi Antonelli into the deep end next year. The still-only 18-year-old driver has big shoes to fill at Mercedes, as he is the successor to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Helmut Marko has already seen Antonelli's great raw pace. Still, the advisor argues that the youngster still has everything to prove in the sport.

Antonelli has completed several tests with older Mercedes cars in recent months. During the first free practice session in Monza, he made his first appearance in an official Formula 1 session. Although the Italian was immediately quick, he crashed at Monza's iconic Parabolica after losing control.

Red Bull's chief advisor sees that Antonelli is very quick. "I was impressed by his speed," he told Formel1.de. To compare the Mercedes protégé to Max Verstappen - who was also lightning fast from the first moment, wouldn't be fair according to the Austrian. "Max is Max. He [Antonelli] has to prove that first."

Things are moving fast for Antonelli, as he skipped Formula 3 and is now securing good results in Formula 2. Was Antonelli on Marko's radar? "Of course, but you can't have them all," he said. Red Bull has produced some incredible junior talents, including Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.

Red Bull itself has juniors driving in Formula 2 right now. Isack Hadjar has been Red Bull's new reserve driver since Liam Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB. The Frenchman is currently second, behind McLaren Junior Gabriel Bortoleto. Pepe Martí races for Campos and is 16th. In Formula 3 this year, Oliver Goethe, Arvid Lindblad and Tim Tramnitz drove in Red Bull's iconic colours.

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