kimy anelli was announced as a Mercedes driver head of fp3 at Monza do kimy Antonelli has beaten Jack Duhan to the no.12 after both drivers appli to race with the number in their rookie seasons in 2025 the Italian was the first to put his name in the Hat meaning the F awarded him the honor as per the regulations Antonelli and Duhan were both chasing the number which has been available since 2019 after Felipe ner Departed the sport in 2016 for 2 years after a driver leaves the grid their number is unavailable just in case they are brought back by another team soon after duan's desire to Don the no.12 has been public knowledge for some time the young Australian made clear his intentions after the announcement of his Alpine contract in an Instagram reel I'm pretty sure it's quite known now but I will choose number 12 he revealed I've been thinking about it over the summer break and then we locked it in so 12 will be the number I start my Formula 1 season with that unfortunately for Duhan Mercedes beat him to it the Silver Arrows had quietly already applied for Antonelli's number and as he was the first to request the 18-year-old was awarded the number 12 for 2025 onwards. explaining the reasoning behind his desire for the no.12 Antonelli explained that he was inspired by the success of idol Aon Senna who raced with the number from 1,985 to 198