Lewis Hamilton will hand over his Mercedes to 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli for the first practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday, expressing confidence in the young Italian despite a crash during his practice debut at Monza in August.

Antonelli, who will replace Hamilton next season alongside George Russell, crashed heavily in Russell’s car in Italy, but Hamilton believes the young driver will be better prepared this time around. “Kimi is young and he’s learning from his first outing in Monza,” Hamilton was quoted by F1 as saying.