Andrea Kimi Antonelli is set to be handed his first FP1 outing with Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix to ramp up preparations for his potential promotion to its Formula 1 line-up from 2025.
The Italian, who turns 18 on Sunday, is strongly tipped to be named as replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes from 2025, and has conducted a series of private tests in W13 and W14 F1 cars this year.
According to Motorsport.com Italy, Mercedes is set to give Antonelli his first public F1 outing at Monza on 30 August in one of its mandatory FP1 outings for a rookie driver, where the team is also expected to finalise its arrangement to promote its junior driver into its 2025 driver line-up alongside George Russell.
Prema Formula 2 driver Antonelli is expected to take over Hamilton’s W15 F1 car for the session in order to be engineered by Peter Bonnington, who recently became acquainted with the youngster during the Pirelli tyre test immediately after the Belgian GP.
