Kimi Antonelli is relishing the opportunity of filling the "big seat" left by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the 2025 Formula One season.
Antontelli was officially confirmed as Hamilton's successor in August and will race alongside George Russell next year for the German-based team.
In obtaining a seat on the grid for the upcoming season, the 18-year-old will be the first Italian driver in the competition since Antonio Giovinazzi raced for Alfa Romeo in 2021.
Antonelli sits sixth in the drivers' championship standings in Formula Two, winning at Silverstone and the Hungaroring in July for Prema Racing.
He then made his debut in FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes, and after setting the fastest time on his first lap, crashed out on his second time around the Monza track.
That raised questions about Mercedes' decision to replace the experience of Hamilton with the youth of Antonelli, though the latter is focused on enjoying the ride in F1.
"Well, for sure, I'm taking a big seat," Antonelli told Stats Perform at Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy.
"Obviously, I don't feel like I'm replacing him because he's been such a big figure, and he still is a big figure in the sport.
"So yeah, of course, it's an important seat, the one I'm taking, but I just see that I will take a Mercedes seat for next year, and I'm just going to enjoy the ride."
Throughout his career, Antonelli has been supported by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who offered some guidance to the teenager following a tough qualifying session at Silverstone – a weekend in which he went on to take his debut victory in F2.
"Well, I feel I'm very lucky to be with him. I will consider him like a second father for me," Antonelli added.
"He's always been there in the difficult moments and, of course, in the great moments.
"He's such a great supporter, and I'm really happy because next year, of course, is going to be a big year for me.
"I have a lot of things to learn and to have his support, but also the support of the whole team is going to be really important, and I'm really looking forward to that."
Antonelli will line up alongside Russell, who came through the ranks in F2 before joining Williams in 2019, and the youngster believes he can learn a lot from his soon-to-be team-mate.
"I haven't talked much with him because, obviously, he's very busy, he has a really tight schedule even during weekends, so I don't really want to bother him as well, but he's a really good driver, really fast, and I'm happy to have him next year because I can learn a lot from him," Antonelli said.
"I can learn especially on race pace because he has had good races as well, he's really good at managing the tyres, he also has speed and quality, so he's a pretty complete driver.
"It's good because next year I can learn a lot from him, and yeah, he just gave me a few pieces of advice but not much because, as I said before, he's pretty busy, and I don't really want to bother him."
Russell: Drivers 'a bit fed up' of FIA leadership
George Russell says a number of Formula One drivers are "probably a bit fed up" of governing body FIA.
The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), which Russell is the director for, put out a statement after the last race in Brazil to raise concerns about multiple issues.
The GDPA asked president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to "consider his own tone and language", having previously punished Max Verstappen for using bad language at a press conference.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix, Russell confirmed the FIA had yet to respond to the letter as he expressed further disappointment.
"We recognise everybody's working as hard as they can to do the best job possible," Russell told reporters. "There is obviously a huge amount of change within the FIA quite regularly, so it's clearly not the most stable of places.
"And maybe that's why it's been a bit challenging to get some of the changes that we've wanted implemented. Of course, everyone has their own side to their own story.
"I think if we feel that we're being listened to and some of the changes that we are experiencing, requesting, are implemented, because ultimately we're only doing it for the benefit of the sport, then maybe our confidence will increase.
"But, I think there's a number of drivers who feel probably a bit fed up with the whole situation. And it only seems to be going in, to a degree, the wrong direction."
Russell also said he and his fellow drivers were not aware of race director Niels Wittich being removed three races before the season ends.
"Talking as a fellow driver as opposed to my role with the GPDA, everybody felt with certain things that have happened that we wanted to stand united," he said.
"At the end of the day, we just want to be transparent with the FIA and have this dialogue. And the departure of Niels is a prime example of not being part of these conversations. [The letter] is kind of us putting the pressure back on them."
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
'Enigma' Haaland offers too much threat to be left out, says Mills
Former Manchester City defender Danny Mills believes Erling Haaland is an "enigma", which is why it is so hard to leave him out of the side.
Haaland has been a revelation since joining City in July 2023, and he has won the Premier League Golden Boot in both seasons so far, while also scooping up the Premier League Player of the Year award in his debut campaign.
He has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances in all competitions for City, netting 16 times this term already.
Haaland is averaging 1.09 goals per game in the Premier League this season, after making a record-breaking start to the campaign in which he scored 10 times in the opening six matches.
Mills, who played for City between 2004 and 2009, thinks the 24-year-old's high-scoring record comes down to the efficient way he approaches matches.
"Erling Haaland is a bit of an enigma," Mills told Stats Perform. "He's not your usual centre forward.
"We expect our centre forwards to either drop deep, be a bit of a playmaker and create chances, or put on a high press, work the channels, and have lots of touches, closing people down.
"Haaland stands in the middle of the pitch, makes the runs when he needs to, is very efficient, and puts the ball in the back of the net more often than not. He gets himself in good positions.
"We can talk about him missing big chances, but he's also scored an awful lot of goals. That's the thing — a centre forward will always say you're better off being in the position and missing the chance than not being in the position because the goals will come. Everybody misses chances."
Haaland also set the record for most Premier League goals in a single season in 2022-23, with 36, and he once again sits top of the goalscoring charts this term, though he has seen his goals dry up somewhat in recent weeks after his lightning-quick start.
The Norwegian netted his 12th Premier League goal of the campaign in City's 2-1 loss to Brighton before the international break, ending a run of three games in all competitions without a goal.
Nobody has had more shots than Haaland in the English top-flight this season (55), while only Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (11) has missed more big chances than him (10).
Mills suggested that Haaland is held to a higher standard than other forwards in the competition, but says even when he is not scoring, he offers too much to be left out of the starting line-up.
"When we talk about patchy form for Erling Haaland, patchy form for him is still way better than most other players' form. It's better than 95% of Premier League strikers," Mills added.
"That's why he gets criticised for missing big chances, because we expect him to score every single time. But he's just different.
"I think it's very, very difficult to leave him out because he offers so much. He's so big, strong, powerful, and scores all types of weird and interesting goals at times.
"He occupies three or four defenders because they’re all worried about his pace in behind, his aerial ability, or what he's doing. Leaving him out would be a big, big call.
"It's not like he's going through a drought. An Erling Haaland drought is that he hasn't scored for two games. There are centre forwards all over the world who would love that to be their record, not their drought.
"So, I think we need to have some perspective. Yes, he might miss one or two chances, but he's a massive threat and a fantastic goalscorer."
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