Teenage driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed on his second flying lap around Monza after his first Formula 1 session was highly anticipated, as he tried to make an impression in George Russell’s car.
Minutes into Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s first Formula 1 session, the teenager wrecked his Mercedes. Toto Wolff acted swiftly to reassure the young driver.
When the young Italian drove George Russell’s car around the Monza track on Friday, all eyes were on him. When Lewis Hamilton completes his transfer to Ferrari next season, the 18-year-old is anticipated to join the Briton as a teammate.
However, Antonelli was unable to demonstrate his abilities as he lost control and crashed into a barrier on only his second flying lap. He immediately got on the radio to apologize on behalf of the team, which prompted Wolff, the team principal, to respond.
The Austrian answered simply and calmly, “All good, Kimi, all good.” TV cameras captured Wolff winking at pictures of the collision that appeared on the screen in front of him; the impact was recorded at 45G.
“It’s unfortunate it ended the way it did, but he was on the limit, pushing the limit from lap one,” Mercedes head of communications Bradley Lord said on the broadcast shortly after the crash, as reported by Sky Sports F1. It’s encouraging to see that and just another step in the learning process.
Even though Antonelli’s first Formula One session ended prematurely, it is still anticipated that he will be named Hamilton’s replacement. The adolescent’s native nation may still make that announcement this weekend.
At the young age of 18, he has an incredible record in junior single-seater classes and is well-liked by Mercedes employees. The quantity of cameras trained on him as he sat in the team garage minutes before the session began also indicates that there is a lot of external hype surrounding him.
Ted Kravitz, a pit lane reporter, described what was happening and made a noteworthy comparison at Sky’s. “I’ve worked in pit lane for 23 years, and in all that time, I’ve rarely seen the kind of attention that Kimi Antonelli is receiving at the front of this garage,” the man stated.
“Photographers were positioned in three deep at the front of the garage. I can assure you that this is the most attention I have seen for a driver since Michael Schumacher’s time. Considering that the two Ferrari stars, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, are present, Lewis Hamilton is, for crying out loud, in the next garage!
“He’s going to drive for Ferrari next year, but all the attention is going to the Italian driver of the future, the guy who we all expect to drive for Mercedes in Formula 1 next year. He is currently extremely popular because of his star quality and expectations.”
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