Kimi Antonelli at Monza
The weekend of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was particularly special for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, making his debut with Mercedes during the first free practice session and at the same time announced by the Brackley team as their new official driver for 2025, replacing Lewis Hamilton. Everything was wonderful, with the only downside being an error made by the 18-year-old at the Parabolica, which forced the Mercedes team to work on the car to repair the damage caused by the impact, resulting in George Russell missing the first few minutes of FP2.
Rookie Incidents
The relationship between the two future teammates is good, as George Russell himself has confirmed multiple times. However, he made a proposal to Sky Sport F1 just before Kimi Antonelli returned to the wheel of an F1 car, which will happen during FP1 of the Mexican Grand Prix: “I think it’s fantastic to give opportunities to young drivers,” he commented, “but if there are damages from an accident, those should not count against the budget cap. We are all very close to the financial regulations. If a young driver were to damage the car, then perhaps that should be separated.” This aspect regarding possible incidents involving a rookie was also emphasized by Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff: “These moments will happen and will continue to happen next year, but there will also be many highlights.” – the British driver explained.
Current Rules
The current sporting regulations in Formula 1 focus on the development of young drivers, with obligations for each team. Specifically, teams must field one or more rookies in at least two weekends during the championship, with drivers (coming from feeder categories or Academies) obviously possessing an FIA Super License and not having competed in more than 2 Grands Prix in Formula 1. The budget cap, on the other hand, corresponds to a maximum amount that Formula 1 teams cannot exceed, set at 140 million dollars.
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