Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes 'replacement' has insane hidden talent that could give him huge F1 advantage

Kimi Antonelli - who has been all but confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes for 2025 - has a hidden talent that not many F1 fans may be aware of.

The 17-year-old has been part of Mercedes' junior ranks since 2019, and is competing in Formula 2 for the traditionally dominant Prema Racing team.

Antonelli has already won two races this season at Silverstone and Hungary, and has impressed onlookers in his debut F2 season.

Speaking to reporters at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort on Friday, team principal Toto Wolff said that Antonelli will be in the second Mercedes F1 car alongside George Russell next season once Hamilton leaves to join Ferrari.

What fans may not know about the Italian is that, alongside his incredible speed, he also has an incredible memory.

Antonelli has the ability to recall his qualifying times from any Grand Prix to within a tenth of a second.

In a video posted on TikTok, the 17-year-old is asked by his Prema race engineer Pedro Matos whether he can remember lap times from specific circuits and qualifying sessions.

When asked if he can remember his time from qualifying in Barcelona, Antonelli says it is 'easy' - leaving Matos and Prema team-mate Oliver Bearman stunned.

Antonelli said he did a lap time of 1:24.894 - which was just 0.023 seconds away from his actual time.

He then successfully remembered that his time at Melbourne was a 1:19.0, before Bearman asked if he could recall how fast he was in an F4 race at Monza - two years ago.

He recalled that he set a 1:52.9 in the second session of qualifying - and was only a tenth out on his time from Q1.

Remarkably, he then correctly told Bearman that he set a 1:42.2 in qualifying for Saudi Arabia - which was proven to be correct.

While recalling lap times may not help in terms of a competitive advantage on track as such, it is vital for giving feedback to the team and analysing performances.

It can also help him to set his pace for each stint in races, with that potentially being a key advantage such he take the second Mercedes seat as is expected.