Mercedes has acknowledged that it might have been an unwise decision to hand Andrea Kimi Antonelli his weekend bow in Formula 1 in FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Having conducted a relentless testing programme using previous F1 cars, Antonelli was granted the chance to sample Mercedes‘ latest creation, the W15, last month.
But while he showed blistering pace out the blocks in the first practice hour at Monza, Antonelli went over the limit on his second timed lap and crashed at Parabolica.
The Italian’s accident curtailed his outing inside 10 minutes on home soil and came on the weekend when Mercedes announced he would drive with the team in 2025.
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted it underestimated how much pressure Antonelli would be under when it decided on the Italian GP for his maiden appearance.
“I wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but I think we weren’t completely right in assessing the pressures that he could find himself under,” Wolff told Autosport.
“Why that is, is that we talked about it, and how to approach the session.
“He has been brilliant in testing. He has never put a single foot wrong in the many thousands of kilometres that he’s done.
“But it’s a different ball game if you’re an Italian driver, you’re 18 years old in Monza and it’s your first opportunity.
“Maybe if we had considered that as a risk factor against the set of data we had from him, probably it would have been wise to give him an FP1 that would have been in a totally different time zone than Italy. But he will learn a lot from that.”
Wolff concerned about Antonelli’s mental state
Wolff expressed that his main concern when the crash happened was not the damage to George Russell’s car, but rather how it would impact Antonelli’s mental state.
“I thought it’s not good for him, because I thought it’s a shame for him,” added Wolff.
“He was so quick, and that was his first session in Italy, about to be announced as a driver, which everybody pre-empted.
“I like his approach. He’s fast on the first lap out of the pits, and that is what he’s demonstrated. Obviously, I would have enjoyed him being on the leaderboard high up and that was taken away because the car flew – and some of those speeds were only achieved much later during the weekend.
“Obviously he was too fast for the condition of the track and for the car at that stage, so it was balancing the ambition, the motivation and the skill versus also the experience that FP1 is FP1.
“I knew that that was going to hurt him, that was going to hurt him emotionally.”
Antonelli’s Mercedes promotion ‘not a gamble’
Wolff denied that Mercedes has taken a risk in promoting Antonelli so soon, despite warning that the team must be prepared to deal with him making more mistakes.
“No, it’s not a gamble,” Wolff retorted when that was put to him. “It would be a gamble if you wouldn’t believe in his capability.
“We need to give him the time to develop. We don’t expect, touching down in Australia [next year], and him blasting everyone. That’s not the expectation.
“I think it shouldn’t be anybody’s expectations. Give him time to develop, and then he can become very good. But he needs to be given the time.”
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