Lewis Hamilton’s F1 2025 replacement, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, will have his second practice session for Mercedes at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, the team has confirmed.
This comes after the young driver crashed during his only previous FP1 outing at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli to drive Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in Mexico FP1.
Hamilton announced in February that he will be joining Ferrari on a multi-year contract starting in the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful time with Mercedes.
Even though there were rumors about a bold move for three-time World Champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull, Mercedes confirmed on August 30 that Antonelli will move up from the F2 feeder series to become George Russell’s new teammate next year.
The announcement came just after the 18-year-old crashed at Parabolica only 10 minutes into his first-ever FP1 session as he made his debut during a grand prix weekend.
With Mercedes still needing to let both race drivers sit out one FP1 session each this season to give rookie drivers a chance, the team has confirmed that Antonelli will drive Hamilton’s car in the 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 the team for giving me this opportunity to contribute.”
Mercedes is looking to bounce back after a tough weekend in the United States, where both Russell and Hamilton crashed at the same corner during qualifying and the race.
Hamilton had his worst qualifying result since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix, finishing 19th in Austin, Texas, before spinning out and retiring on the first lap.
Russell managed to recover from a pit-lane start to finish sixth at the Circuit of The Americas. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is hopeful that the “inherent performance in the car” will carry 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.”
