Kimi Antonelli will join Mercedes in Monza free practice

It’s an open secret. mercedes He had been feeling it for weeks Kimi Antonelli will occupy the seat of Lewis Hamilton after his departure to Ferrari. The Italian driver will officially ride for the first time in W15 in free practice 1 this Friday at Monza GP and, added to the statements of Toto Wolff where he said he will drive next year with George Russell, everything indicates that the 18-year-old will be the one to accompany the British driver next season.

Antonelliwhat is Mercedes junior driverhas already conducted numerous F1 tests for the team this year as part of Previous Car Test Programalthough this Friday he will officially debut: “Making my debut in an F1 session in front of my home crowd is incredible. I look forward to learning a lot, but also contributing to the team weekend” he assured.

The 18-year-old will be the first Italian to take part in a Grand Prix weekend since then Antonio Giovinazzi in the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi of 2021. It should be noted that FIA regulations establish that “all F1 drivers must miss one FP1 per season if they do not participate in more than two Grands Prix.” The first “sacrifice” will be George Russellwho leaves his seat Antonelli, where he will share the track Lewis Hamilton. The latter also had to sit out some free practice between now and the end of the season, so it’s likely we’ll see the Italian driver again in some free practice in one of the 9 remaining races.

In his first season at F2Antonelli is in seventh position with 87 pointsvery far from 165 points of French pilots Isaac Hadjarwho is an academy pilot Red Bull. The Italian driver won two races, one of the ‘sprint’ at Silverstone and a race on Sunday at Hungary. However, he is definitely more focused on this Friday’s FP1 at the helm of an F1, and assures that “taking part in my first FP1 will be really special. I’m very excited to drive the W15 and share the track with so many incredible drivers. I can’t wait” he concluded.