Mercedes is accelerating Kimi Antonelli's progression to a Formula 1 driver's seat with a planned test in a Mercedes F1 car.
Italy's Corriere dello Sport has reported that Toto Wolff's 17-year-old protégé, seen as a prime candidate to take over from Lewis Hamilton next season, is scheduled for his debut run in a 2022 model at Imola.
The team has arranged to have the circuit to themselves throughout the Easter break, with this development now awaiting official announcement.
Despite Antonelli being in the spotlight, Mercedes' team leader Wolff's first choice for the 2025 slot is still Max Verstappen. "Maybe Max really can win at Mercedes," speculated 1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve.
Yet, it's believed a Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso or Carlos Sainz, could be more likely to fill Hamilton's shoes.
"He is a very mature and intelligent driver," Villeneuve observed about Sainz. "But can he find that extra tenth that Verstappen can?"
Marc Surer, another former F1 competitor, also casts doubt on Alonso's capacity to directly replace Hamilton, telling motorsport-total.com that at 42, the two-time world champion is "no longer one of the absolute top drivers".
Wolff faces further complications as Christian Horner of Red Bull is reported to have engaged in "serious conversations" with Alonso.
"What's really interesting is that Helmut Marko normally has those sorts of conversations when it comes to driver policy," noted De Telegraaf journalist Erik van Haren.
Christian Albers, also a former F1 driver, views Alonso as "simply a contingency plan for Horner" if Verstappen and Dr. Helmut Marko decide to leave due to the well-known and ongoing internal disagreements.
"You absolutely cannot put those two next to each other," he stated about the potential pairing of Verstappen and Alonso. "That won't turn out well at all," he added, chuckling.
"Everyone can say that Alonso has calmed down a bit, but he won't let himself be destroyed in his final year of Formula 1."
