Mercedes Junior Antonelli part of the Ferrari Driver Academy’s Scouting Camp

Photo: FIA Karting / KSP

Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 Junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli is taking part in a Ferrari Driver Academy scouting camp at Ferrari headquarters in Maranello this week.

Antonelli has been one of the biggest stars of international karting in recent years, winning three championships in OK junior karts in 2019 and then moving up to senior OK machines last year and becoming CIK-FIA European champion.

He is currently third at halftime in this year’s European Championship, having already finished second in the Super Master Series and the Champions Cup of the WSK and seventh in the Euro Series 2021.

The camp is a perennial favorite, inviting drivers to be tested by the FDA. There are similar events and partnerships around the world, and since 2020 they have now come together in a global final where the winner becomes a Ferrari F1 Junior.

Ferrari’s home camp started on Monday with ACI nominated drivers Antonelli and Brando Badoer and the program’s other European partner, Tony Kart, who nominated Spaniard Bruno Del Pino and Finnish talent Tuukka Taponen.

After the quartet’s announcement and online speculation that Antonelli’s loyalty had changed, the driver development advisor of the Mercedes Junior Team, Gwen Lagrue, made it clear: “Kimi is one of our young Mercedes drivers, he was invited by the Italian Association.”

Antonelli’s Kart Republic team-mate Badoer is the son of former Ferrari F1 driver Luca. Badoer Jr finished ninth in the WSK Champions Cup and the Euro Series at the beginning of the year and is currently 16th in the CIK-FIA European Championship.

Both of them tested Formula 4 cars this year with AKM Motorsport, Antonelli’s father’s team and tied to the Kart Republic team.

“The young people will have five busy days to get to know all aspects of racing as a racing driver, from physical preparation to motorsport theory and stress management,” says the FDA’s description of the 2021 camp.

“The camp ends with a two-day drive on the racetrack in Fiorano, where the four young people will drive an F4 car. This year, too, the car will be fitted with tires from Pirelli, a technical partner of the FDA for these scouting camps. “

Taponen, who like Antonelli was named one of the world’s best mappers by Formula Scout in 2020, was runner-up in the CIK-FIA world championship and third in the European championship for OKJ karts last year.

He and Del Pino now drive OK karts as Tony Kart teammates and occupy places 20 and 21 in the European championship points. The rookie season has been far more fruitful for Taponen than Del Pino, as he is currently third in the Champions of the Future series and already fourth in the Champions Cup and Super Master Series.

In addition to recruiting via the second edition of the FDA Scouting World Finals, which Antonelli can quite achieve, the FDA will also grant a place in its ranks this year to the winner of the FIA ​​Women in Motorsport Commission’s Girls on Track Rising Stars program, a rating standard to meet.