Kimi Antonelli set for second chance as latest Mercedes appearance confirmed

Lewis Hamilton’s F1 2025 replacement Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his second practice appearance for Mercedes at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, the team have confirmed.

It comes after the teenage sensation crashed out of his only previous FP1 outing at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli to drive Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in Mexico FP1

Hamilton announced in February that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes.

Despite being linked with an ambitious move for reigning three-time World Champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull, Mercedes confirmed on August 30 that Antonelli will step up from the F2 feeder series to become George Russell’s new team-mate from next year.

The announcement came the morning after the 18-year-old crashed at Parabolica just 10 minutes into his first-ever FP1 session as he made his first appearance on a grand prix weekend.

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With Mercedes yet to fulfill the obligation for both race drivers to sit out one FP1 session each across the season to allow rookie drivers a chance, the team have confirmed that Antonelli will drive Hamilton’s car in opening practice in Mexico City this weekend.

Antonelli said: “I’m looking forward to driving in FP1 and playing my part in helping the team make a good start on track this weekend.

“It is a new circuit for me and one I have been working hard to prepare for. The altitude makes it unique and it’s a challenge I’m excited to experience.

“I want to thank for the team for giving me this opportunity to contribute.”

Mercedes are aiming to respond following a challenging weekend in the United States, where Russell and Hamilton both crashed at the same corner in qualifying and the race respectively.

Hamilton suffered his worst qualifying result since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix by lapping a lowly 19th in Austin, Texas, before spinning into retirement on the second lap.

With Russell recovering from a pit-lane start to finish sixth at the Circuit of The Americas, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is hopeful the “inherent performance in the car” will cross over to Mexico.

Wolff said: “After a difficult weekend in Austin, we have the opportunity to bounce back immediately in Mexico.

“Our performance in Texas showed that there is inherent performance in the car. Our challenge is extracting this consistently.

“That is not the result of one specific challenge, but the interaction of the car across both aero and mechanical factors.

“We have five more races to work on this before the end of the season. It is important that we do so, not only for our immediate performance but to also set ourselves up well for 2025.”

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