Meet the Mercedes F1 star replacing Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Frederik Vesti will drive in a Formula 1 practice session for the second time this year when he takes to the track at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
F1 rules mandate that all teams must set aside at least two practice sessions per year for rookie drivers to take the wheel. Mercedes have already done that for one of their cars this year when George Russell sat out FP1 in Mexico.
Vesti took the wheel that day, his first taste of a live F1 session. And he will repeat the trick on Friday when he gets into the cockpit of the W14 again, this time giving Lewis Hamilton the chance to put his feet up.
Most teams have left their mandated FP1 sessions until this final race of the year. And so Vesti will be one of no fewer than 10 rookie drivers forming a much-changed driver line-up for the first F1 session of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend. Here's everything you need to know about him:
Frederik Vesti the rising Mercedes star
The Danish driver, 21, joined the Mercedes young driver programme as a teenager in January 2021. He had just completed his first season in Formula 3 during which he had well-known team-mates in the form of Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant - both of whom are at the end of their debut F1 seasons this year.
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Vesti's rise has been slightly more drawn-out. He stayed in F3 for a second year after signing for Mercedes and finished fourth in the championship for a second year in a row, which proved enough to earn the Dane a promotion to Formula 2.
Vesti drove FP1 for Mercedes at October's Mexican Grand Prix (Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)His first F2 season was low-key but did bring his first victory at that level, before he truly announced himself as a contender this year. Five wins and a handful more podiums in 2023 mean he goes into the final round of the championship this weekend in second place.
He still has a chance of taking the title but would need leader Theo Pourchaire to have a disaster of a weekend, so significant is the 25-point gap. Still, Vesti has already said this season has been "the best in my career" after showing his talent and earning more F1 opportunities with Mercedes.
Mercedes have another prodigy rising through the ranks
Vesti is currently in prime position to earn a promotion to F1 when Hamilton eventually retires. But he is not the only one on the Silver Arrows' books who will be throwing his hat into the ring for that seat when it eventually becomes available.
Italian racer Kimi Antonelli is just 17 but has been fast-tracked through the system. He raced at Formula Regional level this year but has skipped F3 entirely to be announced as an F2 driver for 2024 at the same Prema team for which Vesti has driven this year.
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has already spoken very highly of the teenager. "He is a very talented Italian driver in whom we have invested," the Austrian said recently. "He won everything in F4, is leading the Formula Regional championship and has shown that he is really strong, fantastic to see.
"But we don't want to put too much pressure on him. Andrea is only 17 years old, we don't want to burn him, we have to let him become an adult. We need to do everything calmly."
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