Kimi Antonelli’s Baku F1 performance ‘closes the door’ for Carlos Sainz at Mercedes

Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Kimi Antonelli’s impressive showing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has eased the pressure on the Mercedes junior.

Antonelli out-qualified teammate Russell for just the second time this season in Baku.

The Italian was unable to out-race his teammate after Russell’s lightning pace on the hard tyre in the first stint allowed him to jump Carlos Sainz and Antonelli through the pit stop phase.

It was still an encouraging weekend from Antonelli as Mercedes moved back ahead of Ferrari in the battle for second in the 2025 F1 constructors’ championship.

Antonelli has endured a mixed rookie season overall.

While Antonelli has shown flashes of brilliance, notably his sprint race pole in Miami and maiden podium in Montreal, he’s struggled to finish in the top 10 on a consistent basis.

Misfortune with reliability, combined with driver errors, has left Antonelli languishing well behind Russell in the points standings.

Since his podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli has scored points on just three occasions.

Mercedes technical chief James Allison has stressed that the team are focused on ensuring Antonelli has clean weekends, to allow him to build up ahead of qualifying and the Grand Prix.

‘Door closes on Sainz’

Like Russell, Antonelli doesn’t have a Mercedes contract for next year.

Mercedes explored the possibility of signing Max Verstappen for 2026.

However, the four-time world champion confirmed he would be staying at Red Bull ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Schumacher believes Antonelli’s improved form ends any possibility Mercedes’ top management would be tempted to sign Sainz from Williams.

Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Schumacher said: “I believe Kimi Antonelli has had another important weekend for him, which helps him, but also gives him a different public image and, internally, above all, because it wasn’t just Kimi who was under pressure.

“If I may say so, it was primarily a decision made by Toto Wolff and, of course, when the driver who is proposed is discussed with the two main shareholders together with Toto Wolff, and it doesn’t work out, then they also say, ‘Hey, what do we do now?’

“I believe Kimi Antonelli has had another important weekend for him, which helps him, but also gives him a different public image and, internally, above all, because it wasn’t just Kimi who was under pressure.

“If I may say so, it was primarily a decision made by Toto Wolff and, of course, when the driver who is proposed is discussed with the two main shareholders together with Toto Wolff, and it doesn’t work out, then they also say, ‘Hey, what do we do now?’

“In the end, the whole thing is expensive, and we also have to be in the Constructors’ Championship and so on, and that’s very important this weekend. I think Kimi had a good, solid weekend, and he can build on that now. That’s why I don’t believe that the door will open again for Carlos Sainz.”