Kimi Antonelli shares what Mercedes ‘taught him’ about F1 after Monza FP1 crash

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his full-time Formula 1 debut with Mercedes next year and has already experienced what it will be like in the deep end.

The 18-year-old has participated in two practice sessions for Mercedes at Monza in his home country Italy and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, not to mention an extensive testing programme throughout the year.

Antonelli’s outing at Monza lasted just 10 minutes before he crashed at Parabolica, the high-speed right-hander, having lost control midway through the corner and going off into the barriers.

The crash caused significant damage to Antonelli’s car, which was to be used by George Russell for the remainder of the weekend. It was also a significant setback for the Italian, having crashed on his official F1 weekend debut in front of his home crowd.

Writing in a column for the Mercedes F1 website, Antonelli says he learned an important lesson from the team over the weekend.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli ‘mentally stronger’ after Monza crash

The pressure on Antonelli in front of his home crowd was likely a contributing factor to the crash, as he had already tested a 2021 and 2022 Mercedes at Speilberg and Imola earlier this year.

Antonelli had also only just recently turned 18 years old to make him eligible for the FP1 run, which teams are obliged to utilise with rookies twice in a season.

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

The Italian says it was a learning experience for him and hopes to use it when he makes his full-time debut next season when he replaces Lewis Hamilton.

“Monza was emotional. It was one of my two home races, and there was so much hype around the whole weekend, and I guess you could say I learned a lesson the hard way with what happened in first practice,” said Antonelli.

“I enjoyed the couple of laps I did, especially in front of the home crowd. It is a memory I will have for a long time. Mentally it will help me to come back stronger, too. The team helped me so much. They taught me how to face that moment and get through it without worrying too much.”

Mercedes faces ‘serious problem’ with Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli will join three other rookies set to join the grid next year including his F2 teammate Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto and Jack Doohan.

Doohan’s future at Alpine could already be in doubt even though he has yet to take part in a race in place of Esteban Ocon, while Bortoleto is on course to win the F2 title this year.

READ MORE: What makes Kimi Antonelli so highly rated by Mercedes?

Antonelli is the most exciting out of the rookies given his age and impressive record in karting and junior single-seaters before his F1 promotion.

Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned whether Antonelli is prepared enough to be thrown into a car and team that will likely want to win out of the box, given the mistakes he made at Monza.