Mercedes’ prodigy, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, is set to take the wheel of a Formula 1 car once again next week. Following the Grand Prix of Belgium, the 17-year-old Italian will be testing the W13 at the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps. Currently in his rookie season in Formula 2, Antonelli is being groomed by Mercedes for his debut in the premier class.
This isn’t Antonelli’s first Formula 1 test with Mercedes – he has previously traveled to the Red Bull Ring among other locations for practice laps in the W12. The tests proved more than successful, with Technical Director James Allison concluding that the young Italian is the ‘real deal’. Whether he can impress the Mercedes team at Spa again remains to be seen. The W13 – the 2022 car – is a notorious vehicle, especially considering the issues with ‘porpoising’.
It’s not certain that Antonelli will be promoted to Formula 1 next year, although he is one of the main candidates to replace Lewis Hamilton. Despite winning his first race in the feeder series in Hungary, Antonelli is not entirely convinced of his abilities.
Busy Schedule
Mercedes’ trackside engineer, Andrew Shovlin, emphasized in the run-up to the Belgian GP that scheduling test days is not an easy task. “The calendar is simply extremely busy,” he told Crash.net. Additionally, due to the budget cap, teams no longer have the resources to set up a special test team. “We don’t have a separate team of people who can do that,” he explained. “That used to be the case. On top of that, Kimi (Antonelli) is quite busy with Formula 2, especially now that we have entered the European season.”
However, Mercedes still has plenty of plans for the 17-year-old Antonelli. “We have more events planned,” Shovlin confirmed. “After the weekend, we have one day at Spa and other moments will follow later in the year. Everything is going well, we are now shifting our focus to qualifications and refining the long runs. We want him to get a clear idea of what he can still improve, but so far everything is going very well.”
