Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has officially confirmed youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his F1 practice debut with the team at next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix but has ruled out any short-term loan to Williams.
As first reported by Motorsport.com’s Italian edition, Mercedes junior driver Antonelli has been lined up for a Friday FP1 session with the W15 at his home race.
The Italian, who turned 18 on Sunday, is widely expected to be confirmed as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement alongside George Russell next year.
After Antonelli logged plenty of miles with Mercedes’ older F1 cars, Wolff confirmed in Zandvoort the Bologna native would now get the nod to drive the team’s current car in an official grand prix weekend session as the next stage in his development.
“We’re going to do FP1 with Kimi in Monza, which is going to be a really emotional moment,” Wolff said. “Because we followed him since he was 11 and a baby, go-kart driver, and a Mercedes kid proud to be in the garage.
“To see him drive out on Friday in FP1 in Monza, in front of the tifosi, having an Italian kid in a competitive car, I think that will be something that everybody in Italy can be very proud of. And then we take it from there.”
Wolff formally ruled out that Antonelli could be ramping up his 2025 preparation by making a full debut with Williams later this season instead of struggling Logan Sargeant.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12
Instead, he clarified Antonelli would continue his testing duties on top of completing his rookie Formula 2 campaign with Prema.
“Between [Williams team boss] James Vowles and myself, we have super transparent discussions and relationship, and James was part of developing Kimi and finding Kimi,” he added.
“So, I think what’s best for him is to continue the programme as we have designed it, with the testing [of previous cars] and Formula 2, and see how that goes, rather than disrupting our plan and giving him the opportunity in a Williams – and that’s the decision that we have taken.”
Additional reporting by Mark Mann-Bryans
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