Antonelli 'cannot wait' for F1 debut after positive pre-season test

Kimi Antonelli expressed his enthusiasm following a productive pre-season test in Bahrain, as he gears up for his much-anticipated Formula 1 debut with Mercedes-AMG at the upcoming Australian Grand Prix. Antonelli, one of six rookies on the grid in 2025, described his week in bahrain as "positive" and admitted he "really cannot wait" for his first race with Mercedes in two weeks at Melbourne's Albert Park. The 18-year-old Italian wasted no time getting up to speed when testing kicked off at Sakhir on Wednesday. Over the course of one and a half days behind the wheel of the new Mercedes W16, Antonelli built crucial experience and gained valuable insights into the car’s performance. A Good Job Overall But More Understanding Needed After completing his final laps on Friday morning, Lewis Hamilton's successor at Mercedes reflected on the progress he enjoyed while acknowledging areas that still need improvement. "It was great", Antonelli  told the official F1 website. "It was nice to be back for official testing, and it felt pretty good with the car. "Obviously, there’s still some work to do in terms of understanding the car and the tyres, but overall, I think we did a good job." "Last night, I did a full race distance all in one go, and it was pretty nice, also to do all the pit stops and so on", he added. "I think it was a positive test; as I said before, still some work to do, but it was a decent start, and I really cannot wait for Melbourne." Charniaux / XPB Images Australia Can't Come Soon Enough Looking ahead to his debut Grand Prix 'down under', the young Mercedes protege described the upcoming race as a "really special moment", admitting it still feels surreal that his next time on track will be in a competitive F1 session on Friday, March 14th in Melbourne. "Of course, I’m super excited – it’s a great opportunity", he admitted. "I will spend some more days at the factory to prepare for Melbourne and all the other races because it’s going to be a back-to-back with Melbourne and China. But yeah, really cannot wait, and let’s see what we can do." Antonelli finished his final morning of testing P2 on the timesheet, and then handed his 'silver arrow' over to teammate George Russell for the final session. With pre-season testing now complete, the rookie is fully focused on his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix from March 14-16. Read also : Russell edges Verstappen in final Bahrain F1 test session Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook The post Antonelli 'cannot wait' for F1 debut after positive pre-season test appeared first on F1i.com.