Formula 1 rules require teams to field young drivers in at least two first practice sessions over the course of a season and Mercedes are set to use one to blood their next star
Kimi Antonelli is poised to make his Formula 1 debut on home soil in a practice session at the Italian Grand Prix.
The teenager is set to fill in for Lewis Hamilton – the man who he is likely to replace full-time after this season. The seven-time F1 champion is headed to Ferrari and, for some time now, starlet Antonelli has been the favourite to fill his seat.
Mercedes ruled out the most high-profile alternative, Carlos Sainz, a while ago and the Spaniard has now signed for Williams. And team boss Toto Wolff has finally given up on his dream of poaching Max Verstappen from Red Bull in time for the 2025 season.
Antonelli, who turns 18 this weekend, has a stellar record in junior categories and, while his debut Formula 2 season has been difficult so far, Mercedes have been impressed with his performances during several outings in past F1 machinery so far this year.
The Bologna-born racer’s reward is a competitive debut in FP1 at Monza next Friday. The Italy race is also increasingly likely to be the ideal time for the team to confirm that Antonelli will race alongside George Russell next year, though Wolff has said many times that he will not rush to make that decision.
The practice sessions are also an ideal opportunity for Antonelli to work with Peter Bonnington during a live session. ‘Bono’, who has worked with Hamilton for many years, has been promoted to head of race engineering at the team but is set to continue to work directly with one of their drivers from 2025 – most likely Antonelli.
While many at Mercedes know the teenager well, given he has been part of their young driver programme for some time, Bonnington only recently got to know Antonelli at a tyre test following last month’s Belgian Grand Prix. He was one of those watching on as the youngster drove around Spa-Francorchamps.
Leave a Reply