We wrote back then that Kimi Antonelli and Mick Schumacher completed a rather "interesting" test at Silverstone with the team's 2022 car. But now it has also been revealed that George Russell was also put in the car during that practice as a real benchmark.
According to information now released by the Italian Corriere dello Sport, Antonelli impressed the entire Mercedes management team with an extraordinary performance in this test:
“Three drivers drove the 2022 W13, all running on a similar program. Antonelli was just as fast in qualifying, but he also overtook Russell in race pace. If we are willing to look between the lines, we can see that Mercedes has practically already acknowledged the fact of Antonelli's signing, but they have not yet announced it… Toto Wolff spoke about this in Imola, when he was asked about Lewis Hamilton, who first appeared in front of the Tifosi with the Ferraris contract:
"It must be very exciting for Italian fans to know now that Lewis Hamilton will be wearing red next year. But we have to take care of ourselves, and maybe we have a chance that the next time we race in Italy, we will do it with a home-grown driver. We are driving hard to get back to the top!" - the boss said mysteriously.
