Mercedes has announced that young Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his Formula One practice debut at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza next Friday. This news was revealed by team boss Toto Wolff during the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Antonelli, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Sunday, is widely expected to replace Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes race seat when Hamilton moves to Ferrari at the end of the season.
Wolff expressed excitement about Antonelli’s opportunity, highlighting his journey from a young go-kart driver to a potential Formula One star. “We’re going to do FP1 (first practice) with Kimi in Monza, which is going to be a really emotional moment because we’ve followed him since he was 11 and a baby go-kart driver with a Mercedes kit and proud to be in the garage,” Wolff told reporters. “Seeing him drive out on Friday in FP1 in Monza, in front of the tifosi, an Italian kid in a competitive car — I think that will be something that everyone in Italy can be very proud of and I will take it from there.”
Antonelli, currently competing in Formula Two, has been testing privately with Mercedes in older F1 cars. Mercedes technical director James Allison praised Antonelli’s speed and consistency during these tests, describing his pace as “metronomic.” The team believes Antonelli possesses the potential to be another generational talent, similar to Max Verstappen, who made his F1 debut at the age of 17 in 2015.
Despite speculation that Antonelli could be given a race seat at Mercedes-powered Williams sooner than expected, Wolff confirmed that Antonelli will not be racing this season. This decision was made after discussions with Williams boss James Vowles, who was involved in Antonelli’s development. Wolff believes it’s best for Antonelli to continue his current program and gain further experience before potentially joining Williams.
In a separate development, Wolff also expressed his support for Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher, who is hoping for a return to F1 after being dropped by Haas. Wolff believes Schumacher deserves another chance and would be happy to see him race for Williams. “I very much hope that Mick gets the chance, because we haven’t seen the real Mick,” Wolff said. “And if the opportunity would be in a Williams, it’s something that we would be cheering for.”
