Andrea Kimi Antonelli has reacted to his first experience of Formula 1 machinery after debut test that was hit by bad weather.
Despite his tender age, the 17-year-old is being prepared as the likely successor to Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time F1 champion is leaving Mercedes at the end of the year to join Ferrari and Antonelli looks to be Toto Wolff's first choice to replace him, now that he has got the idea of poaching Max Verstappen out of his head.
Antonelli only made his Formula 2 debut last month but boasts a remarkable record in other junior categories. And Mercedes organised a two-day test for him this week at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
He didn't get as much track time as he would have liked, though, thanks to Mother Nature. Snow in the Styrian hills delayed his first run in the team's 2021 car, the W12, though he did eventually get out onto the circuit to get a feel for F1 machinery.
And, afterwards, he spoke of his delight after finally getting his first taste of what it's like to drive in the premier single-seater motorsport category. He said: "It's been an incredible experience - I loved every second of it.
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"The first day didn't go as planned, we got some snow unfortunately so we couldn't really drive. But the second day was dry and I got quite a lot of laps and it was really good fun. I want to thank all the team for all their hard work and I'm excited for what's coming.
"We did some sim work and ran through some important things ahead of the day. That was really useful because once I was out on track, I knew what the team was telling me on the radio."
Coming for Antonelli are more track days. Though Wolff has plenty of experienced potential options for Hamilton's seat, the Austrian does not want to miss out on another huge talent, having lost Verstappen to Red Bull years ago because Mercedes could not offer him an F1 place as quickly as their rivals could.
Mercedes have already added more dates to Antonelli's testing schedule this year, but Wolff insists he is still going to think long and hard before making a final decision. He said: "My feeling at the moment is that I don't want to rush it, because Kimi is part of the ideas for next year and is very much in the strongest position, and that's why we don't need to rush into any other decision.
"Obviously, some of the other top drivers are going to make a decision on what to do soon, but there's a feeling that points me in a direction not to take the decision too quickly."
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