Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has labelled Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s FP1 outing at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix as “astonishing” prior to enduring a 45G crash.
Antonelli was embarking on his debut F1 weekend showing in first practice at Monza with much anticipation amid his expectant step-up to a permanent drive in 2025.
However, the Italian was improving on his second timed run when he lost the rear going into the final Parabolica corner and sustained a sizeable shunt into the barrier.
But Wolff has acknowledged that Mercedes was expecting Antonelli, 18, to make mistakes and was more impressed with how soon he was up to speed on home soil.
“Yeah, most importantly he’s okay because the crash was 45G, so that’s important,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week.
“Second priority is to get the car ready for George, so the programme doesn’t suffer too much. Hopefully it’s going to be okay, it may arrive a little bit late, but it’s going to be okay.
“And the third one, yeah, it’s unfortunate because I guess, having had an hour’s run, we would have seen some good performances.
“But that’s what we always said, he’s a rookie, he’s very young, we are prepared to invest in his future.
“And these moments, they will happen, they will continue to happen next year, but there will also be a lot of highlights.
“I think what we’ve seen today was we rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster because what we’ve seen from one and a half laps is just astonishing.”
Wolff believes that the scorching track temperatures that have been prevalent at Monza this week contributed to Antonelli getting a snap that he was unable to catch.
“He apologised first of all, and I think this is what you need to do when you bring a car back that looks a bit like a Lego box falling on the ground to the floor,” he quipped.
“But he also said that the car, he felt so much confidence in the car, the car was good. And I guess he was just beaten.
“Everybody started from lots of temperature, and especially rear temperature, he was carrying this kind of speed, and that’s why the rear went the way it stepped out.”
Antonelli, who has been dovetailing his maiden Formula 2 season with regular F1 testing, is considered the odds-on favourite to take the vacant 2025 Mercedes drive.
Wolff has denied that Antonelli’s incident will have an impact on whether the German marque prioritises him as the replacement for the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton.
Asked whether Antonelli’s crash will have a bearing on his F1 chances, Wolff retorted: “No, zero effect. I think the most important thing is to rely on ability.
“An FP1 that’s gone wrong is not a reason why you decide to fall against the driver.”
Wolff revealed that Antonelli’s next time in Mercedes’ 2024 car, the W15, should come in Mexico in October, as he quashed the notion that it could be brought forward.
“I think there’s a strong driver that needs to recover from these things and cope with the pressure,” the Austrian added.
“And obviously this weekend wasn’t easy for him because he still needs to compete in F2.
“You have all these shenanigans around you in Monza. An Italian that is being hyped for the first time in a Mercedes, and that must be a heavy burden.
“But if he wants to be a champion one day, he needs to cope with that. I have no doubt that he can and he will.”
