Antonelli completes maiden F1 test

Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli has completed a two-day test at the Red Bull Ring aboard a 2021-spec F1 car.

A highly regarded junior, Antonelli is thought to be the leading contender to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.

Currently competing in Formula 2, the test was his first outing at the wheel of F1 machinery.

The opening day was impacted by snow before the 17-year-old managed 500km of running on the second day.

“It’s been an incredible experience; I loved every second of it,” Antonelli said.

“The first day didn’t go as planned, we got some snow unfortunately, so we couldn’t really drive. But the second day was dry, we got quite a lot of laps, and it was really good fun.”

The Italian is racing for Prema in his first season of Formula 2, driving for Prema Racing with a best result of fourth from four starts thus far.

Thailand chasing F1 street race

Thailand has emerged as another contender for a round of the Formula 1 world championship.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took to social media to express interest in Bangkok hosting a race at some point.

“Thailand has the potential to host Formula One in Bangkok. If this is going to succeed, I am confident that our country will be an excellent host country for the sport,” he posted on X.

F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has visited Thailand to discuss the proposal but nothing more has come of it just yet.

The sport’s commercial rights holder has claimed there are a number of potential new venues vying for a round of the championship, though none were added to the calendar for 2025.

Chinese grass fires

The FIA was left without a clear explanation as to why two grass fires broke out on Friday at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Officials briefly red flagged practice when a fire took hold on the inside of Turn 7, with a similar occurrence happening at the end of Sprint Qualifying 1, delaying the start of the session’s second segment.

Rain in the lead up to the event did not leave the grass overly dry with the ignition believed to be caused by sparks from the cars as they bottomed out on track.

In response, the FIA watered the grass in the affected areas and stationed a fire response team at Turn 7.

F1 releases sustainability update

Formula 1 has released a report detailing progress towards its goal of being Net Zero by 2030.

It outlined a 13 percent reduction in the sport’s carbon footprint in 2022 versus the baseline season in 2018.

A fleet of bio-fueled-powered trucks has been used for the sport’s European leg and promoters have also invested in their own initiatives.

Bahrain has installed a 5.28MW solar farm, with similar works (to a lesser extent) carried out in Silverstone, Zandvoort, and Singapore.

Formula 1 is poised to move to sustainable fuel from 2026, while F2 and F3 already use a 55 percent ‘drop-in’ sustainable.

Support for FIA president

Member clubs from the MENA and ACTAC sub-regions have written a letter in support of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Allegations against the FIA president were made following a whistleblower claiming he attempted to interfere with the outcome of last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

There were also claims he tried to baulk the Las Vegas Street Circuit’s licence being issued ahead of F1’s new flagship event’s inaugural running.

Investigated by the FIA ethics committee, Ben Sulayem was cleared on both matters.

The latest letter follows a similar correspondence from the Central European Zone and the Americas, two of which encourage legal action against those who made the allegations against the president.