Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli gets his own Netflix documentary

The trailer for an upcoming documentary on Formula 1 hotshot Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been released ahead of its premiere next week.

Netflix will publish ‘The Seat’ on Monday 5 May, and it will be a 45-minute documentary charting the previous year of the Italian’s life as he geared up for his promotion to F1.

In August of last year, Mercedes announced Antonelli as its Lewis Hamilton replacement for 2025, with the 18-year-old contesting his rookie F2 season at the time. 

“It is a dream come true to be an F1 driver with the Mercedes F1 Team,” said Antonelli, who is now five grands prix into his rookie campaign and is sixth in the standings.

“Throughout the process, Toto, the team and I were in constant communication. ‘The Seat’ shows this process from start to finish. I can’t wait for the world to join us on this journey streaming the documentary on Netflix.”

The trailer was actually released by Mercedes team partner WhatsApp and offers glimpses of the F1 feature that promises exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the internal selection process to his Mercedes practice debut at Monza, as well as personal insight into his life.

“Selecting Kimi as our race driver for 2025 was, as ‘The Seat’ documents, a big decision,” said Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, who was captured in the trailer informing Antonelli of the choice to promote him.

“WhatsApp played an instrumental role in this. It was the engine that kept everything moving smoothly and privately, allowing our team to focus on Kimi’s development, discuss progress and ultimately communicate our choice.

“We’re excited to give F1 fans around the world a unique insight into the process, showing how we arrived at this pivotal moment in the team’s history.”

The documentary even captures the moment Antonelli made his grand prix debut in Melbourne this year, with Netflix dubbing the process as “the biggest driver change in F1 history”.