Mercedes reveal when Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make another FP1 appearance after replacing Lewis Hamilton

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It is fair to say that Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s first FP1 outing with Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix did not go to plan.

The Italian has been confirmed as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes for 2025 onwards, partnering George Russell. Antonelli will become the youngest driver on the grid next year at just 18 years old.

The Silver Arrows handed Antonelli his first appearance at an F1 weekend at Monza as he drove Russell’s car in FP1. While fans reacted to Mercedes signing Antonelli with lots of praise, his practice session did not go as anticipated.

Antonelli suffered a 52G crash after just 10 minutes of the practice session at Monza as he lost the back end of the W15 going around Parabolica and slammed into the barrier. Despite ending his session abruptly, Mercedes were fully supportive of the 18-year-old as he made his way back to the garage after visiting the medical centre as a precaution.

Antonelli is highly rated by Mercedes and he seems to be a long-term project for the Brackley-based team, as they look to give him more time in F1 machinery before his permanent move to the team in 2025.

Kimi Antonelli set for another FP1 outing this year with Mercedes

Speaking on Mercedes’ YouTube channel, the team’s trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin revealed when Antonelli is set to make his next appearance in an FP1 session.

As per FIA regulations, every Formula 1 driver must skip an FP1 outing for a driver who has no more than two Grand Prix starts, in order for faster development of young drivers.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

Antonelli’s crash at Monza has understandably caused some concern. F2 champion Davide Valsecchi expressed his worry for Antonelli about starting his F1 career with Mercedes so soon.

It is very rare for a young driver to make his F1 debut with a top team and with it comes pressure to deliver results. Eddie Jordan says Mercedes have made a mistake with Antonelli due to the pressure mounted on him, which the Irishman says caused his crash.

But Mercedes are not giving up on the Italian and plan to give him another outing in FP1 this season. Shovlin says that his appearance will most likely come at an event where there is not a Sprint Race, leaving Singapore, Mexico, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi as potential options.

When asked if Antonelli will be given another chance in FP1 this year, he said: “Yes there will be, because the regulations require that both of our race drivers give up their seat for a Friday practice session. Kimi being our driver for next year of course we’re going to use him.

“He obviously didn’t get as much mileage as we’d hoped for, we have been doing and we are doing work with some of our previous cars, giving Kimi the opportunity to experience the car, the tyres over a range of circuits, that’s going to continue. A bit of a shame that he had that accident at Parabolica.

“The pace was certainly good, we’ll chat to him about building up a bit more gently in future and how you approach the race weekend, but yes we’re looking forward to getting him in the car again, we’ll pick the right circuit for that.

“We’ve got a lot of sprint races coming up so you’re not going to want to have a race driver missing their only free practice session at a sprint race, so limited choice, but yes he will be back in and we’re looking forward to getting him back in the car.”

Mercedes will want to give Kimi Antonelli as much testing as possible before joining the team in 2025

For Antonelli, it is important for Mercedes to give him as much time in an F1 car as possible before his debut season in 2025.

For young drivers, it is best to get mistakes out of the way at the earliest opportunity. This will be extremely critical for Antonelli, who will be expected to get results from the first race in Australia if Mercedes can keep up their surge in performance, given the 18-year-old’s impressive junior career.

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The crash at Monza will have no doubt knocked a bit of confidence out of any young talent. But what is key in Antonelli’s case is he clearly has the support from Mercedes, who see him as an exceptional talent and one for the future.

With his second FP1 outing coming up and his first full F1 season fast approaching, Antonelli will be firmly on everyone’s mind as they watch his development closely.