Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Kimi Antonelli has offered a warm welcome to his former team-mate Rafael Câmara, who will step up to Formula 1 with Haas next season, in comments shared by the sport’s official X account.
Posting on Friday (Oct 23), Formula 1 quoted the Mercedes driver as saying: “we support each other… looking forward to have him on the grid”. The post added that Antonelli “will give a warm welcome to his former team mate Rafael Camara, who joins the F1 grid in 2027”, and used the hashtags #F1 and #USGP.
Câmara’s promotion was confirmed by Haas on 15 October. The 21-year-old Brazilian has signed a multi-year contract and will replace Esteban Ocon, who is leaving the team at the end of this season. He will line up alongside Oliver Bearman, who, like Câmara, is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
The team said Câmara currently leads the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Invicta Racing, on 207 points with two rounds remaining, with feature race victories in Spain, Belgium and Azerbaijan, six podiums and five pole positions. He is also the reigning Formula 3 champion, having won that title in 2025, and has been part of the Ferrari academy since 2021.
Haas had already given him a taste of Formula 1 machinery. Câmara drove the team’s VF-25 in a Testing of Previous Car programme at Portimão in Portugal in August. Team principal Ayao Komatsu said the Brazilian “showed us more than just raw speed” and described him as “a young, amazing talent”.
Haas owner Gene Haas said Câmara’s record in Formula 3 and Formula 2 made him excited to see what he could achieve at the top level. “These younger drivers are well prepared, and they can make an immediate impact on a team,” he said. Komatsu added that the team wanted to create “an environment where he’s comfortable and supported, where he can really excel in his capabilities”. Câmara himself said he was “very happy to be joining TGR Haas F1 Team as a Formula 1 driver”, calling it “an important step in my career” and thanking Gene Haas, Komatsu and the Ferrari Driver Academy for their trust and support. He added that there would be “a lot to learn”.
The link with Antonelli goes back to 2022, when the pair were team-mates at Prema Racing in Formula 4. Antonelli won the ADAC Formula 4 title that year, while Câmara took the rookie championship.
Those junior-category memories now sit alongside a very different stage. Antonelli leads this season’s drivers’ standings and could clinch the world championship in Austin this weekend, though he needs to win the race with George Russell finishing ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower.
Câmara’s arrival will also swell the Brazilian presence on the grid. He will join Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto as the country’s representatives in 2027. ESPN reported that he will have several opportunities to take part in Friday practice sessions for Haas before the end of this year, including at his home race in Brazil at the start of November. The move also strengthens the team’s long-standing partnership with Ferrari, which dates back to Haas’s Formula 1 debut in 2016.
The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113636560889610585.
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