A brand new documentary displaying the choice to advertise Kimi Antonelli right into a race seat at Mercedes will air on Netflix following this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.
Titled ‘The Seat’, the 45-minute documentary premiers on Could 5 and can function the non-public conversations that happened because the staff weighed up who to switch Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton with. Produced in partnership with the Mercedes sponsor WhatsApp, the documentary options calls and discussions between staff principal Toto Wolff and Antonelli because the staff prepares the younger Italian expertise to be introduced as its 2025 driver alternative.
“Choosing Kimi as our race driver for 2025 was, as ‘The Seat’ paperwork, an enormous choice,” Wolff mentioned. “WhatsApp performed an instrumental function on this. It was the engine that saved every little thing transferring easily and privately, permitting our staff to concentrate on Kimi’s improvement, talk about progress, and in the end talk our alternative.
“We’re excited to offer F1 followers all over the world a novel perception into the method, displaying how we arrived at this pivotal second within the staff’s historical past.”
The staff describes the choice handy the rookie the chance “a once-in-a-generation driver change in Mercedes and F1 historical past”, with the trailer together with commentary on how inexperienced Hamilton’s alternative was on the time of his promotion from Components 2.
“It’s a dream come true to be an F1 driver with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Staff,” Antonelli mentioned. “All through the method, Toto, the staff, and I had been in fixed communication on WhatsApp and the ‘The Seat’ exhibits this course of from begin to end.
“I can’t anticipate the world to hitch us on this journey streaming the documentary on Netflix.”
Whereas WhatsApp is prominently talked about – this being the second unique movie venture from the partnership, following one that includes Hamilton final yr titled ‘Push, Push’ – ‘The Seat’ is the primary to debut on Netflix.
