by SIMONE PELUSO
The two victories in the Sprint at Silverstone (in the rain) and in the Feature Race in Hungary were a great demonstration of growth for Andrea Kimi Antonelliincreasingly comfortable with Prema in F2 also in comparison with his teammate (already made official by Haas) Oliver Bearman. The 17-year-old from Bologna, who will come of age in exactly one month, represents the real – and perhaps only – option for Mercedes in view of 2025 to inherit the very heavy legacy left by the future Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.
In the past few weeks on FormulaPassion.it We have given you a preview of how team principal Toto Wolff has his back the now unanimous green light from the Board of Directors of the Brackley stable and, with Max Verstappen seemingly out of the running for next year following Helmut Marko’s renewal With Red Bull, the road to the Formula 1 debut with the Silver Arrows is practically clear.
New test after the Belgian Grand Prix
Despite the busy calendar of European races between F1 and F2, Mercedes has organised another test for Antonelli behind the wheel of the 2022 W13, which will be held at Spa Francorchamps after the Belgian Grand Prix. This is his fourth experience behind the wheel of the Mercedes after sessions at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and Imola, and it won’t be his last this year.
“We will have a day with him here in Spa after the race weekend and we’ll have more later – confirmed the head of track engineering Andrew Shovlin to Motorsport – Plans are going well, now we will focus on teaching him how refine your approach to qualifying and long runs so that he can have a clearer idea of what he needs to work on and improve on.”
In Williams an idea not to be discarded right away
In short, Mercedes is really serious and seems to want to prepare as best as possible, taking advantage of every opportunity, the road that leads to Antonelli’s immediate promotion. In this perspective It cannot be ruled out that the Italian talent could anticipate his real debut this year at the wheel of the WilliamsLogan Sargeant’s place seems to be increasingly in the balance and relations between the American driver and team principal James Vowles are really at loggerheads (the two would no longer speak to each other).
The former Mercedes strategy chief is working to find a replacement for next year: the aim is to convince Carlos Sainz, while Valtteri Bottas remains plan B (the Ocon track fell through, now officially in Haas) always with the intention of proposing a contract of at least two years. But internal discontent over Sargeant’s unsatisfactory performances could seriously push for a immediate change right after the summer breakgiving Antonelli the opportunity to grow further and gain confidence more directly during the final weekends of the season.
#AntonelliMercedes #road #clear #Max #test #Spa