Andrea Kimi Antonelli reaches major milestone ahead of first F1 season

Last August ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced that Andrea Kimi Antonelli would slide into the seat vacated by Lewis Hamilton, making him the third-youngest driver in Formula 1 history. The announcement came just days after Antonelli’s 18th birthday.

While that is certainly something to celebrate, the young driver reached another milestone recently.

Passing his driving test.

Antonelli shared a photo on social media Monday announcing that he had passed his driving test. With the caption “Mission completed,” Antonelli was seen giving a thumbs up from the driver’s seat of a Volkswagon Golf, a car with considerably less horsepower than the W16 he will take to the track next season.

F1 history is filled with humorous stories of drivers struggling to pass their road driving test. Max Verstappen, for example, joked recently that he almost failed his first examination. “The examiner told me to go right and I went left,” Verstappen recalled last year. “Then I didn’t give way [to pedestrians at a crossing]. He was not very happy. I argued with him because I thought they were not actually at the crossing.

“I did, yeah, luckily [pass]. It would be quite embarrassing if I hadn’t. I think he was nice to me.”

Jenson Button was not as lucky. The 2009 F1 Drivers’ Champion failed his initial test because he was in “racing mode,” according to his instructor.

As for Antonelli, his successful test comes ahead of his first full-time season in F1. It also comes after a change in the FIA regulations which would have required him to obtain a road license ahead of driving in F1. After Verstappen made his F1 debut at just 17 years old, the FIA instituted a regulation that required drivers to be 18 and hold a valid driver’s license. However, the FIA removed that regulation last June, prompting speculation that it would open the door for Antonelli to make his debut last season.

While that did not happen, Antonelli is primed for his debut with Mercedes this season with a road license in his pocket, along with his FIA Super License.