Andrea Kimi Antonelli brushes off ’52G’ crash at Monza after 10 minutes on track

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli had his first taste of a 2024 Formula 1 car when he took to Monza during the first practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old was on track for 10 minutes before crashing at the high speed right-hander at Parabolica, having lost control midway through the corner and going off into barriers.

The crash caused significant damage to Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car, which he would hand back to George Russell for him to use for the rest of the weekend.

Mercedes was also attempting to do a back-to-back test of its new floor versus the old, with Antonelli running the new parts. The team said it has spares, but it was a set back they didn’t need ahead of an important weekend.

In a video message after the session on Sky Sports F1 Show, Kimi Antonelli explained what went wrong and the extent of the impact that ended his session after just five laps out on track.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli explains Monza crash after just 10 minutes on track

While it was not Antonelli’s first time in an F1 car having previously tested with Mercedes in their 2021 car at Speilberg and in their 2022 challenger at Imola earlier this year, it was the first time the team let him run on an official weekend.

During those tests, Antonelli reportedly ‘surprised everyone’ with his ability to absorb information like a ‘sponge’ and not make any mistakes.

Mercedes made use of their FP1 rookie obligations to run Antonelli in Monza, who only recently just turned 18-years-old to make him eligible. Antonelli explained what went wrong and how he intends to use to experience to learn ahead of his next run later in the season.

“What a day. First FP1 done, unfortunately, it ended quite quickly because of the crash, it was quite a big one around 52Gs,” said Antonelli.

“Really sorry to the team and George for making them work afterwards and just a mistake on my side, I was just pushing a bit too much for the conditions and I should’ve built the run up more progressively. But definitely, a lesson learned for next time.

“Still thankful for the team for making it possible and brilliant to see all the Tifosi out there, and to get the first laps done with all the drivers on track.

“I’m not feeling super well at the moment, I’m just going to go back and try to rest and try to focus for the rest of the weekend, because there’s still some races to go [in F2] and we’re going to still try and get a good result.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli set for Mexico FP1 before 2025 full-time drive

Antonelli, who is currently racing in Formula 2, is believed to be in contention to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for 2025.

Despite the unfortunate crash in FP1, Antonelli earned praise from Mercedes chiefs for showing performance during the two timed laps prior to the off.

READ MORE: Who is Mercedes academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was also reassuring to him over team radio after Antonelli informed them he was ok, before informing media later in the day that he expects the Italian to run in Mexico during FP1 next before a full-time debut.

It is expected that Mercedes will confirm their plans to run Antonelli alongside Russell next season later on in the weekend.