Mercedes Rising Star Antonelli Scores on Debut

Since Formula 2 testing in mid Febuary its been clear the Prema Team haven't got a great car in 2024. The new generation chassis has been a struggle for them so far and practice & Qualifying only proved the point that the team who finished 2nd in the Championship in 2023 need to improve quickly. 

Anatolli qualified 18th with team mate Olli Bearman behind him in 19th and when the race started while Bearman was making an extended trip to the pitlane before re joining the race, Anatolli made up a couple of places off the start but struggled to push to much further forward before a well timed early stop put both the Premas up to just outside the top 10. 
Bearman couldn't maintain his position and slipped back but F2 rookie Anatolli not only held onto his position but moved up to 10th, scoring a well earned point in his debut Formula 2 Feature race. 

​The F2 grid is packed to the brim with mega talent and when you combine that with how bad the Prema car has been so far in 2024, it shows just how well Anatolli did to finish in the top 10 on his first time of trying. 
Mercedes have shown their support for Kimi by having such faith in his racing they helped him skip Formula 3 and go straight in Formula 2 and Kimi confirmed that support was rightly placed by getting a point from a really tough race and bad car.

Joanna Blackmore 
Writer @f1journal.co.uk