The Legendary F1 drivers Antonelli is following as he partners with Peter Bonnington

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli is one of the most hyped prospects to enter Formula 1, though he is already following a line of legendary drivers at Mercedes.

Team boss Toto Wolff decided to pair Antonelli with experienced race engineer Pete "Bono" Bonnington, who has been the voice in the ear of legendary drivers Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli has had a metoric rise over the past few years, going from F3 to F2 last season, and getting an immediate call-up to the big time after Lewis Hamilton's shock move to Ferrari.

“I think having someone like Bono, it’s amazing,” Antonelli said. “It’s a very big privilege because he has worked with two of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1 – he worked with Michael and then he worked with Lewis for so many years."

“So having someone with so much knowledge and experience, it really helps you because obviously I’ve so many new scenarios that I will have to go through, so many new scenarios that I will have to face, so many new things that I will have to learn, and having someone like him that has so much experience, definitely it’s really helpful because it can really guide you in every situation, and so I feel really lucky to have someone like him," Antonelli added.

Bono is best known for his 12 years as Lewis Hamilton's engineer, the pair who won six Drivers' Championships and coined the phrase "Hammer-time," which he would use when Lewis needed to push hard during a race.

Mercedes as a whole has done everything they can to get Antonelli comfortable, pairing him with an expereinced leader like Bonnington, providing several test sessions with previous cars, and practice sessions last season.

That preparation has yielded strong early results, with a P4 in his first race at Australia, and a P6 in China. Both results happened with mitigating circumstances, as Australia was a wet race in challenging conditions and he suffered floor damage to his car early on in the Chinese Gran Prix.

Antonelli has not had a lot of practice in the W16 either, due to limited sessions in Australia and the sprint weekend format in China, the start of the season has not been the smoothest for a rookie, but Kimi has adjusted well.

Now that he has set the bar higher than the average rookie, at only 18 years of age, the sky is the limit with Antonelli if his development continues to trend as it has been.