Changing the regulations for Antonella’s “green lights”.

A change to the International Sporting Code could mean Italian fan Kimi Antonelli will make his F1 debut before his 18th birthday.

Considered a contender for second place at Mercedes, the youngster is also attracting interest from Williams, where there is talk of him replacing Logan Sargeant at the Dutch Grand Prix.

However, under current regulations, a driver cannot be issued the required super license until he or she is 18, and Antonelli’s 18th birthday falls on the day of the Zandvoort race.

While Toto Wolff insists he doesn’t want to rush Antonelli into F1, Williams has been pushing the FIA ​​to change the regulations for some time and the Grove-based team appears to have succeeded.

While the rule previously read: “A driver must be at least 18 years of age at the time of competing in his or her first F1 competition”, it has now been changed to read: “At the sole discretion of the FIA, a driver who has been recognized as having recently and consistently demonstrated exceptional ability and maturity in single-seater competition can obtain a superlicense at the age of 17,” while eliminating the requirement that a driver “hold a valid driving license” when first applying for a superlicense.”

The previous rule was introduced in 2015 when Toro Rosso signed a certain 17-year-old named Max Verstappen, much to the annoyance of the FIA.

Despite the best efforts of the governing body, Verstappen received his super license and, as if to thumb his nose at the FIA, took home several awards at the end of the season gala.

Both Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton praised Antonelli and backed him to join them on the F1 grid.