Mercedes will elevate Italian 18-year-old driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli to Formula One in 2025, filling the seat left vacant by Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari. The team made the announcement on Saturday ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. Antonelli will become the third-youngest driver to ever start a grand prix and the first Italian driver on the F1 grid full-time since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021.

“Kimi has consistently shown the talent and speed needed to compete at the very top of our sport,” team principal Toto Wolff said. “We know it will be another big step up, but he has impressed us in his F1 testing this year and we will be supporting him every step of the way in the learning process.