Andrea Kimi Antonelli is about to be handed his first FP1 outing with Mercedes on the Italian Grand Prix to ramp up preparations for his potential promotion to its Formulation 1 line-up from 2025. The Italian, who turns 18 on Sunday, is strongly tipped to be named as substitute for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes from 2025, and has performed a sequence of personal exams in W13 and W14 F1 automobiles this yr. In keeping with Motorsport.com Italy, Mercedes is about to present Antonelli his first public F1 outing at Monza on 30 August in considered one of its obligatory FP1 outings for a rookie driver, the place the group can be anticipated to finalise its association to advertise its junior driver into its 2025 driver line-up alongside George Russell. Prema Formulation 2 driver Antonelli is anticipated to take over Hamilton’s W15 F1 automotive for the session as a way to be engineered by Peter Bonnington, who lately grew to become acquainted with the teenager throughout the Pirelli tyre check instantly after the Belgian GP.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photos
Bonnington has lately been promoted to Mercedes head of race engineering, a task he’ll dovetail with race engineering duties, and retains him on the group in 2025. A number of members of the Mercedes engineering group, together with Bonnington, remained at Spa-Francorchamps to comply with Antonelli’s progress on the check. Antonelli has already been fulfilling simulator driver duties at Mercedes alongside his non-public testing programme, whereas his FP1 outing will likely be his first public F1 look on monitor for Mercedes. Mercedes is but to formally announce its FP1 rookie driver plans for this yr and after Monza there are simply two occasions, Mexico and Abu Dhabi, that are both not road tracks or run beneath a dash race format. In an unique interview with Motorsport.com over the F1 summer time break, Antonelli stated he was not taking something as a right at Mercedes however was additionally not afraid of being judged on the largest stage. “Some extent of fear I feel is at all times there, the prospect of not having the ability to carry out I feel frightens everybody,” Antonelli stated concerning the prospect of turning into an F1 rookie. “My strategy is to see it as an ideal alternative to be taught, develop and in addition benefit from the second. “I am not afraid of being judged, I do know Mercedes has a transparent opinion about my potential, already this season in F2 the championship did not kick off in the easiest way however there have been no destructive ideas. “I’m fairly calm, if the chance introduced itself to me I might take it with eagerness and attempt to take advantage of it. “Just lately there was some stress on me with all of the rumours about subsequent yr, however I’ve at all times tried to get pleasure from it. I am having fun with the alternatives I’ve.”
