The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, insisted he was unconcerned after Kimi Antonelli, the 18-year-old imminently expected to be confirmed to replace Lewis Hamilton at the team, crashed out during his first competitive session in a Formula One car in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.
Antonelli had an inauspicious opening as he took to the track at Monza. The Italian lasted only five laps across 10 minutes of the session before he lost the rear at Parabolica. Apparently having problems with tyre temperatures, he flew off to crash into the barriers at approximately 160mph.
You’ll bounce back from this Kimi 👊
The crew are working hard to have George’s car ready for FP2 🛠️🧰💪 pic.twitter.com/C5FZ9pUEQh
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) August 30, 2024
He emerged unhurt but it ended his run and left mechanics with work to do on George Russell’s car to prepare it for second practice. They went flat out and the British driver was able to take to the track approximately 20 minutes into the hour of the session.
Wolff believed the young driver’s performance proved only that he was a hard charger and all but confirmed Antonelli would be with the team next year. “He’s a rookie, he’s very young. We’re investing in his future and these moments, they will happen,” he said. “They will continue to happen next year.
“A lot of highlights. We’d rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster. What we saw from one and a half laps was astonishing.”
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Wolff also noted the crash would have no impact on the decision to bring Antonelli into the team, which is expected to be announced this weekend. “No, zero. Zero effect,” he said. “I think most important is to hire based on ability and an FP1 that’s gone wrong is not a reason why you decide against a driver.”
On track, the day opened well for Max Verstappen. The defending world champion leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 70 points in the championship but was beaten by the British driver at the last round in Zandvoort by almost 23sec as the McLaren demonstrated a fearsome turn of pace. Verstappen was hopeful his Red Bull would be more suited and better balanced on the low-downforce, high-speed blast at Monza and he was quickest in the first session, 0.228sec up on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Norris in third.
In the second session, truncated when Kevin Magnussen crashed out after 35 minutes, Hamilton was quickest for Mercedes, but only three-thousandths of a second in front of Norris, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third, while Verstappen made an error on his hot lap and backed out of it, finishing 14th.
