Guenther Steiner gives his take on driver who shouldn’t be racing this F1 season: ‘Pretty average’

Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg have caught the eye early on for how well they’ve settled in with their new teams.

Carlos Sainz has had a tough start at Williams and Lewis Hamilton hasn’t found it any easier since taking over at Ferrari.

Steiner recently pointed out another driver who seems short on confidence after their latest outings and questioned whether they were even meant to be racing this year.

Guenther Steiner questions whether Kimi Antonelli was ever meant to race in F1 this season

Steiner appeared on The Red Flags Podcast’s ‘Gas or Brake’ segment, where he was asked if Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had been called up too early.

He responded: “Gas. I think there was never a plan to have him in the car this year.

“The plan came when Lewis said, goodbye, ciao ciao. I’m going to Ferrari.

“Then the plan changed because I think the plan for Kimi was to do another year in Formula 2 and come in next year. I think it was a little bit too early.

“He’s 18 years old. I hope he is not broken now because he had a pole position, a podium, but the rest of it is pretty average, I would say, at best, what he’s doing compared to his teammate.

“He was crying there, which is never good because it seems like he lost his confidence. It’s not good, as I say.

“I think he’s a good driver. How good? Only time will tell, but he’s a good driver.

“But being under this pressure, I mean, look at Liam Lawson. When he was at Red Bull, he struggled.

“He went back to Racing Bulls; he’s doing a lot better now. He’s doing now what you can do in a Racing Bull.”

Kimi Antonelli still awaits decision on his Mercedes future after 2025

Antonelli has only managed to score points in one of the past seven races, though that stat doesn’t tell the full story.

He’s had more reliability issues than teammate George Russell, and his engine failure at Imola was especially tough, happening right in front of his home crowd.

Meanwhile, Russell seems close to extending his stay with Mercedes, ending months of rumours linking Max Verstappen to the seat.

Red Bull looks likely to hold on to Verstappen for at least another season, and Toto Wolff has indicated he’s leaning towards keeping both drivers for 2026.

But there hasn’t been any official word on a new contract for Antonelli yet. With Verstappen unlikely to make an early announcement about his future plans, it puts the young Italian in a bit of a holding pattern.

Steiner’s comments about Antonelli being promoted too early don’t take into account some of the positive moments he’s had this season.

Still, Antonelli himself has admitted he’s struggling with confidence, which suggests there may have been better ways to manage his first year in F1.