Andrea Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes’ F1 knowledge exhibits he has an identical driving fashion to Lewis Hamilton.
The 18-year-old Italian will make the step as much as F1 subsequent season with Mercedes, changing Hamilton, who will full a blockbuster swap to Ferrari.
Antonelli satisfied Mercedes he deserved the vacant seat alongside George Russell throughout a post-Belgian Grand Prix F1 take a look at.
Talking throughout an look on the Pageant dello Sport in Trento, the Mercedes junior revealed Hamilton helps him put together for his F1 debut subsequent yr.
“I didn’t count on that, he’s very good and talks to me rather a lot,” Antonelli stated of Hamilton.
“And searching on the knowledge, his driving fashion appears much like mine.
“I used to be in Singapore and listening to him speak to the engineers – I discovered rather a lot.”
Antonelli made headlines when his first FP1 outing at Monza resulted in a crash simply 10 minutes into the session.
Mercedes have been eager to downplay expectations surrounding Antonelli however the teenager is focusing on race victories in his rookie marketing campaign.
“I really feel prepared for F1,” he stated. “When it comes to pace, I feel it will not be an issue.
“The one factor the place there might be numerous work to do is about find out how to handle the weekend in the absolute best approach and likewise to study all of the procedures. So, there might be numerous issues to study.
“Positively profitable some races [next year] can be a dream. It will not be straightforward, as a result of all of the groups may have a aggressive automobile, so it will likely be very troublesome, however that is the goal.
“Some podiums would even be good, however the principle aim is to carry residence some wins.”
