Andrea Kimi Antonelli is getting ready for his first season in Formula 1, stepping into the Mercedes seat left by Lewis Hamilton, who has joined Ferrari.

The young Italian has already built a solid foundation with F1 testing, including time in Mercedes’ 2021 and 2022 cars but this week, he’s heading to Jerez in Spain, to continue his preparation—however, this time, he’ll be driving Mercedes W11 from 2020.

Using the 2020 car might seem like an unusual choice, as it’s from a previous era of F1 regulations and doesn’t match the design of the current ground-effect cars. Many would expect Mercedes to let Antonelli practice in a more recent car to better prepare him for the season ahead. However, new rules on testing older cars, known as Testing of Previous Cars (TPC), have influenced the team’s decision.

These rules now limit teams to 20 TPC days per year, with current drivers restricted to 1000 kilometers in these sessions. To save these valuable allowances for later in the season, Mercedes is turning to a different category called Testing of Historic Cars (THC).

The mileage for this test is unlimited and the regulations allow running of cars that were: “designed and constructed in order to comply with the Technical Regulations of any of the three calendar years falling immediately prior to the calendar year preceding the year of the championship.”

In simpler terms, for the 2025 season, cars from 2021, 2022, and 2023 are eligible for TPC, while the 2020 season marks the first year eligible for THC. Cars from 2024 and 2025 are classified as current models.

Mercedes’ approach reflects a smart balance between adhering to the new testing rules and ensuring Antonelli is fully prepared for his debut season. The car is also similar to the 2021 model he tested before, making the experience more familiar and useful for his development.