Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has passed his driving test just six weeks before he makes his Formula 1 debut at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Antonelli is replacing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at the team this season, partnering George Russell.

He turned 18, the minimum age for driving on Italian roads, last August.

“Mission completed,” Mercedes wrote on social media, with ticks for both his driving licence and the so-called super-licence he requires to race in F1, above a photograph of Antonelli giving a thumbs up in a driving school car.