F1 | Mercedes, Wolff admits: “A mistake to let Antonelli debut in Monza”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli closed the first free practice session with Mercedes against the barriers of the Parabolica

F1 | Mercedes, Wolff admits: “A mistake to let Antonelli debut in Monza”

F1 Mercedes Antonelli – Mercedes has admitted it failed to adequately assess the pressure Andrea Kimi Antonelli would be under during his free practice debut at Monza. The young Italian talent, chosen to drive the German team's car during the Italian Grand Prix, faced a complicated debut, ending his session with a crash after just ten minutes at the Parabolica corner.

Antonelli, who is set to become a Mercedes factory driver in 2025, showed great speed out of the pits, but over-enthusiasm and a lack of experience meant he pushed the pace too early. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff reflected on the incident, acknowledging that while he did not consider it a mistake, it might have been wiser to allow Antonelli to make his debut in a less demanding environment.

Wolff and Antonelli's pressure in Monza

“I wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but we probably didn’t assess the pressures he could be facing correctly,” the Austrian explained to Autosprint. “We had talked about how to approach the session and Antonelli had been brilliant in the test, without making any mistakes in thousands of kilometres. But it’s a whole different thing when you are a young Italian driver of 18 and you race for the first time at Monza.”

The episode raised doubts about the wisdom of choosing Monza as the venue for the Emilian's debut, given the special meaning that the circuit has for Italian drivers and the expectations that are created on such occasions. Wolff admitted that, in hindsight, it would have been better to choose a less pressured context, perhaps on a track outside Europe, to allow him to gain confidence with the car more gradually.

A lesson for the next releases

Despite the damage to George Russell’s car, Wolff stressed that his main concern was the emotional impact on the rookie, who was in the spotlight on a crucial weekend for his future. “It was a shame for him, because he was so quick, and that weekend should have been a special moment with the announcement of his future as a factory driver.”

Antonelli's accident was not due to a lack of talent, but rather to his enthusiasm and desire to immediately prove his worth. "He was too fast for the conditions of the track and the car at that time," Wolff concluded, acknowledging that the accident would inevitably have an emotional impact on the young driver, but that it will represent an important lesson for the future.

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