Kimi Antonelli may have made an impressive F1 debut, but Italian law bans him from driving his new AMG for the next three years
- F1 rookie Kimi Antonelli was chosen to replace Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes team.
- Despite his inexperience, the 18-year-old has scored points in every Grand Prix he’s raced.
- He was gifted an AMG GT 63 S, but due to Italian law, won’t drive it for the next 3 years.
Kimi Antonelli was chosen by the Mercedes F1 team to replace seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton who moved to Ferrari, and in his maiden season has shown great potential. So far, he has managed to score points in each one of the three races that have been held, which is quite a feat for a rookie, especially in a top-tier team.
While Red Bull Racing fired their rookie driver, Liam Lawson, for underperforming just two races into the season and replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda, their German rivals showed their appreciation for Antonelli by gifting him a Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S Coupe before the Japanese GP in Suzuka.
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In return, the 18-year-old made history as the youngest driver ever to lead a Grand Prix and, with 30 points, is currently fifth in the Driver’s standings, just one place behind his much more experienced team mate, George Russell.
However, as reported by Autosport, despite his impressive performance in Formula 1, Antonelli won’t be able to sample his sports car on the road for a long time. That’s because he passed his driving test in January and, according to a new Italian law that’s effective since 14 December, 2024, he is prohibited from driving a car with more than 100 hp per ton for the next three years. The GT 63 S has 577 hp per ton, so it exceeds that limit many times over.
Imagine being a Formula 1 driver and performing admirably right out of the bat, outscoring much more experienced rivals, including none other than Hamilton, and being banned from driving a 101 hp car on the road. Why, he may be even get to be a Formula 1 World Champion before he is allowed to drive his new street-legal Mercedes!
That might sound absurd but, as the Romans proverb goes, “dura lex, sed lex” – that is, “the law is hard, but it is the law”. Well, at least young Kimi can satisfy his need for speed in his single seater and compete with the best racing drivers in the world. That should be enough to comfort him while he waits until 2028, when he’ll be able to drive his GT63.
