Antonelli completes karting practice in the rain
Ahead of his debut F1 season with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton's replacement, Andrea Kimi Antonelli recently took to a wet and muddy kart track with four of Mercedes' Junior Drivers to keep himself sharp during the off-season.
Mercedes announced on the eve of last year's Italian Grand Prix that their F2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton, who had confirmed his departure from the team back in last February.
The Bologna-born driver, who competed in Formula 2 last season, has completed several test outings with Mercedes since the Brackley-based outfit announced his promotion. He first carried out running with the 2021 F1 Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring before racking up mileage with the 2022 F1 Mercedes in Imola and in Silverstone.
Antonelli then went on to gain experience at Spa in August before completing his first running on a race weekend. The 18-year-old took over George Russell's car in the opening practice session at the Italian Grand Prix, but a mistake on his second flying lap saw him crash into the barriers at the Parabolica corner.
He then travelled to Mexico, where he drove Lewis Hamilton's car in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he admittedly took a calmer approach to avoid any mistake.
The Mercedes junior has recently completed another test run, that time at Jerez, racking up laps in the 2021 F1 Mercedes last Wednesday in nice weather conditions.
Trying to keep himself sharp during the off-season, Antonelli recently took to a wet and muddy kart track with four of Mercedes' Junior Drivers for a fun day of track action.
The Bologna-born driver, who will become F1's third youngest racer when he makes his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, was joined by Luna Fluxa, Kenzo Craigie, James Anagnostiadis and new Junior recruit Ethan Jeff-Hall at Whilton Mill. They clocked up the laps with Argenti Motorsport before finishing the day with a rolling start and hotly contested race.
