Ahead of the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton shook the Formula 1 world to its core by announcing that he would be moving on from his home Mercedes for 12 seasons to Ferrari for 2025.
The German team has many star candidates who could replace Hamilton and replace George Russell.
Both Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso have been announced as potential new recruits.
However, 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli could also be a target for Mercedes, having compiled an impressive CV during his young career.
The Italian is backed by Mercedes and won the ADAC F4 Championship and the Italian F4 Championship in 2022, after beating everyone before him at FRECA last year.
Antonelli is so highly regarded that he jumped straight from the FIA regional series to the FIA Formula 2 series. FIA F3. To become a Mercedes F1 driver, an Italian must win a highly competitive championship, the final step on the road to F1.
The team is full of talent, supported by F1 teams and drivers ready for anything. a chance to step up to the highest level.Despite all the attention the teenager has received, the Mercedes youngster has yet to reach the podium in the first three rounds of the campaign.
Antonelli drives for Italian team PREMA . He and teammate Oliver Bearman struggled in the season opener in Bahrain, with the former scoring just one point over the weekend.
It is a modest return for the outfit that took Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher to the 2017 and 2020 championships.
Both drivers have competed in the Formula 1 series.
Italy has not been successful in the F1 series recently, which may have put even more pressure on the youngster who was still racing microcars in 2021.
The country has history in motorsport, but no Italian has won a world title since Alberto Ascari’s second title in 1953.
To help Antonelli familiarize himself with the Formula 1 machines, he runs an extensive test program. It begins with a two-day test for the 2021 Mercedes W12 on April 16 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted his Italian protégé still has a bit to learn but is confident he can achieve the top of the competition motorsport.
He needs to learn, be more, like in the shadow, develop, understand what to do and if he will be in Formula 1 if everything goes according to plan, but I don’t know if it will be in the next 2018 or if it’s ours or someone else’s,” Wolff said via Formula1.com.
Antonelli is undoubtedly a huge talent, as evidenced by the high level of driving he has done in his short career.
The FIA F2 Championship is one of the most competitive in the world. Winning this title often confuses a fast driver capable of winning races and challenging for F1 championships..