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Come Fan with UsWednesday, August 5, 2026

Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes F1 promotion gets the ‘Drive to Survive’ treatment

See the moment Kimi Antonelli learned he was a Mercedes F1 driver

F1 Grand Prix of Italy - Practice
F1 Grand Prix of Italy - Practice
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
Mark Schofield
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.

Season 7 of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive drops on Friday, and the streaming giant has no shortage of storylines from the 2024 Formula 1 season to feature.

At the top of that list, however, is the shocking decision by Lewis Hamilton to leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 F1 season, and drive for Ferrari in 2025. That announcement left Mercedes and Team Principal Toto Wolff searching for a new driver to pair with George Russell for the upcoming campaign.

Ultimately, Mercedes tapped young phenom Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who turned 18 last August. Antonelli has rocketed up the single-seater levels and finished sixth in the F2 Drivers’ Championship in 2024, after skipping F3 altogether.

Now, you can see the moment Mercedes informed Antonelli he was their choice, in a clip from Drive to Survive making the rounds on social media ahead of the season:

The full season of Drive to Survive launches on Friday. Here is everything else you need to know for Season 7.

See More:

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