Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is set to race for Mercedes in Formula One from 2025, the team announced on Saturday.
He will race alongside George Russell and will take the spot which will be left vacant by Lewis Hamilton who will join Ferrari next season.
“It is an amazing feeling to be announced as a Mercedes works driver alongside George for 2025. Reaching F1 is a dream I’ve had since I was a small boy,” said Antonelli.
Antonelli crashed heavily on his Formula One practice debut at the Italian Grand Prix on Friday and brought the session to a halt after 10 minutes at Monza when the rear of the Mercedes snapped out of line at high-speed Parabolica and the car spun off into the barriers.
Replacing race regular Russell for the session, he had made an encouraging start with a clean first lap as the early pacesetter. He set the fastest middle sector of the session and was looking to reclaim the fastest time from Hamilton, who had just beaten Antonelli’s first lap by 0.6 seconds.
“He’s a rookie, he’s very young,” team boss Toto Wolff said. “We’re prepared to invest in his future. These moments will happen, and they will continue to happen next year, but there will also be a lot of highlights.”
Wolff said Antonelli would likely be given another go at the Mexico Grand Prix in two months’ time.
(With inputs from AP)
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