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.This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Antonelli has already completed several thousand miles of testing in an F1 car in preparation for his debut season.

He will share three days of pre-season testing with Russell at the official test in Bahrain from 26-28 February.