Antonelli would be the first Italian to compete in F1 since Antonio Giovinazzi in Abu Dhabi with Alfa Sauber in 2021.
After weeks of rumours, Mercedes has confirmed that teenage star Kimi Antonelli will race for the German automotive producer beginning in 2025.
The younger Italian driver from Bologna, who turned 18 on 25 August, will substitute Lewis Hamilton, who’s switching to Ferrari.
His System 1 debut on Friday might have gone higher: on the fifth lap of the Monza monitor throughout free apply, the motive force hit the boundaries of the parabolic curve with the precise facet of his automotive.
“I pushed a bit too onerous,” Antonelli commented in a brief video, “I apologise to George (Russell) and the staff.” The pinnacle of the Mercedes staff, Austrian billionaire Toto Wolff, stated the accident doesn’t query the Bolognese driver’s potential in System 1.
Wolff says he made up his thoughts about Antonelli right away: “I made a decision 5 minutes after Lewis Hamilton instructed me he was going to Ferrari,” the tycoon instructed journalists current at Monza.
Antonelli-Russell pairing
Antonelli will be a part of Mercedes alongside 26-year-old driver George Russell, whom he stated he holds in excessive esteem.
“I’m additionally very excited to turn into George’s teammate. He has come via the staff’s junior programme identical to me and he’s somebody for whom I’ve monumental respect. He’s tremendous quick, has received a number of races and has already helped me enhance as a driver,” commented the younger driver.
The staff veteran didn’t maintain again in his reward for his new associate both, saying that he was “actually excited to collaborate with Kimi for 2025.” “His document in System Junior was formidable and his promotion is actually deserved,” he added.
Antonelli would be the first Italian to compete in F1 since Antonio Giovinazzi in Abu Dhabi with Alfa Sauber in 2021. The final Italian driver to win a Grand Prix was Giancarlo Fischella in Malaysia in 2006.
