The 2024 Formula 1 post-season test has begun at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi but Mercedes have already been forced into a change of plans.
Ahead of his Formula 1 debut for Mercedes in 2025, Kimi Antonelli was expected to drive for the team on Tuesday after the final race of the 2024 season in Abu Dhabi.
Antonelli has had a rapid rise up the junior ranks and after his maiden Formula 2 campaign – where he finished sixth in the championship – Antonelli is now preparing for life in F1 as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
Unfortunately, Antonelli was forced to miss the final round of the F2 season in Abu Dhabi with illness, with Prema only running one car.
Tuesday’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi started at 9 am local time and when the Mercedes rolled out of the garage, it wasn’t Antonelli behind the wheel.
Instead, reserve driver Frederik Vesti was handed a rare opportunity to impress for the Silver Arrows.
Mercedes replace Kimi Antonelli with Frederik Vesti after failing to recover from illness
Posting on X from the circuit, journalist Chris Medland said: “And with Antonelli still unwell, Vesti is driving this morning at least for Mercedes (and perhaps all day).”
Toto Wolff is a big fan of Vesti and the 22-year-old was given his latest opportunity to run for Mercedes’ F1 team last year in Abu Dhabi.
Wolff spoke to Sky Sports F1 after last year’s FP1 session ahead of the 2023 race and said: “Frederik [Vesti] is great, you know he’s had a very good season and he’s reliable.
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“We had him in the simulator, he does a really good job, he’s done what we have asked him in those free practice sessions, he’s a really good guy.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate when you look at some of the guys that drove now in FP1, there’s a few of them that would deserve to be in a Formula 1 car and at the moment there’s a bit of a blockage.”
Kimi Antonelli is missing out on valuable F1 running time before his making 2025 debut
Antonelli has done thousands of kilometres of testing for Mercedes behind the scenes but has only been given two public outings thus far.
Mercedes are pleased with Antonelli’s test runs, but won’t want him to miss too much running time out on track on Tuesday.
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Although it’s the 2024 car that Vesti is testing, it’s unlikely that Mercedes’ car for next year will be wildly different.
A widespread regulation change is coming in 2026, meaning development will quickly shift focus to the next generation of cars to avoid being left behind for the next era of Formula 1.
Antonelli on a personal level also has something to prove after two underwhelming FP1 runs this year.
He crashed out after just two laps on his debut at Monza before Antonelli was forced to drive more conservatively in Mexico City given the team’s lack of spare parts following crashes the week before from Hamilton and George Russell.
