George Russell has backed the FIA’s rule tweak which might open the door for Andrea Kimi Antonelli to make his debut in F1 2024.
Final week, the FIA introduced that drivers can now make their F1 debuts aged 17.
The rule was beforehand 18, integrated following Max Verstappen’s exceptional debut in 2015.
Verstappen was simply 17 years and 166 days outdated when driving for Toro Rosso on the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.
Article 13.1.2 of Appendix L of the FIA Worldwide Sporting Code has been up to date because of this and now reads: “On the sole discretion of the FIA, a driver judged to have not too long ago and constantly demonstrated excellent skill and maturity in single-seater formulation automobile competitors could also be granted a Tremendous Licence on the age of 17 years outdated.”
It means Antonelli might make his debut sooner than anticipated amid hypothesis he might race for Williams this 12 months.
Antonelli has been closely linked with a promotion to F1 as Lewis Hamilton’s successor in 2025.
Nevertheless, to mattress him in early, a stint with Williams this 12 months may very well be on the playing cards, significantly with Logan Sargeant’s poor kind.
Talking to pick media together with Crash.internet on the Spanish Grand Prix, Russell believes making your F1 debut at 17 “will depend on the person” and he feels Antonelli – like Verstappen – can be outfitted to take action.
“I believe for certain each driver is totally different,” he added. “And I believe whenever you look again at Max, in case you take Kimi for instance now, I believe these guys have a extremely nice crew round them; Kimi with the Mercedes crew, the entire preparation, the testing he is doing.
“Max was in a extremely lucky place along with his father as an ex-F1 driver and understanding what it takes to get there.
“You noticed Ollie Bearman the job he did at Saudi, thrown within the deep finish and he did an incredible job. So, , everyone’s totally different. I believe it will depend on the person.”
