Antonelli immediately in F2
In the universe of the cadet categories of Formula 1, the 2024 will see a great all-Italian novelty: in the next championship of Formula 2in fact, we will witness the absolute debut of Andrea Kimi Antonelli behind the wheel from Press, with the young driver from Bologna who will move into this series directly from Formula Regional Europea, where he became champion this year. As a result, contrary to the growth process of many other drivers, the 17-year-old Formula 3 will be missed.
Mercedes doesn’t rush
An important step after some notable successes such as those obtained in Italian and German Formula 4, so much so that it convinced Mercedes to consider the driver already ready for this notable leap in quality. Antonelli was in fact included in the Mercedes Junior Team in 2019, but the ‘Three-pointed star’ had already started following the Italian driver from karting, when he already made himself talked about for his great talent and his speed in quickly adapting to the categories in which he took part, establishing himself as one of the promises of Italian motorsport and beyond. However, despite this important choice, the first to remain cautious about his future were the leaders of the Brackley house, starting with Toto Wolff.
No big expectations
The Mercedes Team Principal was in fact clear on the need not to put excessive pressure on Antonelli during the next championship, so much so as not to demand or expect top-level results from the first races: “We took Kimi under our wings in 2012, and even then he was a fantastic guy. You could see his character, he was strong – declared ad autosport.com – we had him with us and there was a lot of trust. In karting his track record was immense, then you put him in the junior formulas and he won every single season in his rookie year, but we have to be careful because there is a lot of hype around him. Moving up to F2 is a big step, because those cars are heavier and much more powerful, but if we give him time and we don’t expect it to make a splash in its first seasonI think he can become great in this sport.”
No predictions
In addition, Wolff did not even want to make a prediction about how long Antonelli’s experience in F2 can lastwhich according to the Austrian manager will depend exclusively on the performance of the Bolognese: “I think it depends on how it goes – he added – they are new cars, which is an advantage, and it all depends on how fast you can be. There are some fierce competitors who reach the second season and who are highly rated, therefore, whether it’s one season or two, he has to prove he’s ready for a place in F1. Then there is another intermediate phase, but we have to concentrate on F2, nothing else.”
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