Toto Wolff described Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s tempo as “simply astonishing” previous to his crash in FP1 on the Italian Grand Prix, and says the incident received’t impression Mercedes’ resolution on his future.
Antonelli went quickest general along with his first timed lap on his FP1 debut at Monza within the automotive usually run for George Russell, and was trying set to take prime spot as soon as once more from teammate Lewis Hamilton earlier than crashing closely on the last nook on his second run. Regardless of Antonelli’s session ending after simply 10 minutes, Mercedes crew principal Wolff says he’s already proven eye-catching tempo.
“Most significantly, he’s OK, as a result of the crash was 45G, in order that’s necessary,” Wolff mentioned. “Second precedence is to get the automotive prepared for George so this system doesn’t endure an excessive amount of, which hopefully goes to be OK. We might run slightly bit late, nevertheless it’s going to be OK.
“And the third one, yeah, it’s unlucky, as a result of I assume having had an hour to run, we’d have seen some good performances. However that’s what we at all times mentioned: He’s a rookie, he’s very younger, we’re ready to speculate into his future and these moments, they may occur and they’ll proceed to occur subsequent yr. However there may even be plenty of highlights.
“I believe what we’ve seen right this moment was…. We’d moderately have an issue in slowing him down than making him quicker. As a result of what we’ve seen from one and a half laps is simply astonishing.”
Wolff says Antonelli was apologetic when he returned to the storage after the crash, and believes the younger Italian was merely caught out by the grip on provide from his tires as he turned in for Parabolica.
“He apologized, initially, and I believe that is what you should do once you convey a automotive again that appears slightly bit like a Lego field falling on the ground. But in addition he mentioned that he felt a lot confidence, the automotive was good. And I assume he was simply bitten.
“All people suffered from temperature and particularly rear temperature out of Ascari with these sorts of speeds and that’s why the rear went away and stepped out.”
You’ll bounce again from this Kimi 👊
The crew are working laborious to have George’s automotive prepared for FP2 🛠️🧰💪 pic.twitter.com/C5FZ9pUEQh
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Staff (@MercedesAMGF1) August 30, 2024
Wolff prompt Antonelli will get one other outing in FP1 in Mexico Metropolis, and says the crash is a part of the 18-year-old’s studying curve and received’t have a detrimental impression on the chance of him getting the vacant race seat in 2025.
“I believe a robust driver must get better from this stuff and deal with the strain. And clearly this weekend wasn’t straightforward for him as a result of he nonetheless must compete in F2,” Wolff famous. “You will have all these shenanigans round you in Monza — Italian child that’s being hyped for the primary time in a Mercedes — and that have to be a heavy burden. If he needs to be a champion in the future, he wants to deal with that, and I’ve little doubt that he can and he’ll.
“No, zero impact [on the 2025 decision]. I believe most necessary is to rent primarily based on capability. And an FP1 that’s gone flawed just isn’t the rationale why you determine for or in opposition to the motive force.”
