Kimi Antonelli, the driver Mercedes chose to replace seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton with, claimed he was much calmer in his second free practice outing with the team.
Antonelli made his F1 debut with Mercedes on the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and crashed only minutes into the first free practice.
However, that did not affect Mercedes' decision to place him in Hamilton's seat for the 2025 F1 season, and on Friday of the Mexico City Grand Prix, the young Italian was given a second outing in the W15.
This time things went as planned, and Antonelli kept the car on track and finished the Red flag-interrupted session with 19 laps under his belt.
"It was definitely much better than Monza," Antonelli said after FP1, quoted by Motorsport.com. "I drove much calmer today.
"I didn't want to take any risks. I just wanted to do a clean session, just to get some laps, understand the car a bit more and understand the tyres.
"I think overall it was pretty decent. Of course, I could feel I wasn't on the limit, but just because it was my choice. I just wanted to get a clean session overall.
"I was able to pick up the pace quite quickly. It was good like this," Antonelli maintained.
The session was not totally smooth though, as Antonelli drove on debris that fell off Max Verstappen's Red Bull RB20, which caused the first Red flag of the weekend.
"To be honest, I didn't really see it," Antonelli said of the incident. "It was a shame because I got quite a bit of floor damage from it. It was quite big damage, so of course it wasn't ideal.
"But still, I managed to get a few laps in the bag," the 18-year-old driver concluded.
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