Kimi Antonelli said he was happy with his pre-season tests and is now looking forward to hitting the track in Australia for his first race with Mercedes.
Kimi Antonelli‘s era in Formula 1 and with Mercedes has officially begun. First in Wednesday morning’s session, fourth on Thursday afternoon, and eventually second this morning. Kimi is right to describe his first Formula 1 testing as positive.
The 18-year-old from Bologna is one of six rookies this season, alongside Lawson, Bearman, Bortoleto, Doohan, and Hadjar, and aims to be ahead of the others by the end of the season, despite being the youngest of them all. After 12 hours of testing over three days, Antonelli is satisfied with his career start but is also aware that there is still room for improvement.
“Getting back in the car for the official tests was great, and I felt pretty good. Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do: I need to fully understand the car and the tires, but overall, I think I did a good job. Yesterday afternoon, I completed a full race simulation, and I can’t wait to get to Melbourne.” explained the new Mercedes driver to the microphones at the end of this morning’s session.
Excitement is through the roof for his first official weekend as a Formula 1 driver, though Antonelli will have to wait another two weeks. “It will be a really special moment. The fact that the next time I hit the track it will be in Melbourne still feels surreal, but I’m excited—it’s a great opportunity. I’ll spend more days at the factory preparing for Australia and the other races because right after that, we’ll head to China.“
Two races in two weekends for the 2006-born rookie: if he were to win, he would become the youngest winner ever, breaking Verstappen’s record.
Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team su X