Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s rise to the F1 grid has been nothing short of meteoric.

Son of sportscar racer Marco, the Bologna native was scouted by Mercedes during a karting career that saw him collect a scarcely believable number of winner's trophies.

He went on to make his car racing debut aged just 15, with more titles swiftly following – in both the Italian and ADAC F4 championships in 2022 and the Formula Regional Middle East and European categories a year later.

Most onlookers saw F3 as the logical next move, but Mercedes already knew they had a star on their hands and decided that promotion to F2 – effectively skipping a step on the ladder – would better serve their latest hot prospect.