Mercedes should have listened to Carlos Sainz Sr’s private Kimi Antonelli warning before F1 debut

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Kimi Antonelli’s first Italian Grand Prix as a Mercedes driver failed to meet expectations. He has now fallen to eighth in the drivers’ championship.

Antonelli’s qualifying performance was solid. Lewis Hamilton’s five-place grid penalty promoted him onto the third row, where he lined up alongside teammate George Russell.

This was the teenager’s best starting position since the Canadian GP, the race where he took his first-ever F1 podium. But any hope of a repeat on home soil was squandered by a botched start.

Antonelli would later receive a five-second penalty for driving erratically in a battle with Alex Albon, his third sanction in two weekends. That demoted him to ninth place, making it just three points in the last seven rounds.

Carlos Sainz Sr called Mercedes’ decision to promote Kimi Antonelli illogical

Some, including Martin Brundle, believe Mercedes should have placed Antonelli at Williams, one of their customer teams, if possible. That would have allowed him to develop in a lower-pressure environment.

Antonelli became the third-youngest driver in F1 history when he replaced Lewis Hamilton, and there’s an argument that his recent slump proves he wasn’t immediately ready for such a high-profile seat.

Speaking to ex-F1 driver Marc Surer last year, Carlos Sainz Sr suggested that Mercedes signing Antonelli was ‘not logical’. He didn’t see why they’d take the ‘risk’ when the blueprint of loaning Russell to Williams had been so successful.

Sainz Jr was a contender for the Mercedes seat, but he reportedly refused to sign a one-year deal. He didn’t want to be an interim solution while Toto Wolff waited for Antonelli to develop.

According to Ralf Bach, Sainz Sr felt it was ‘crazy’ that Mercedes gave Antonelli a ‘cart blanche’ in his first F1 practice session a year ago. The academy graduate caused substantial damage to Russell’s car with a high-speed crash at the Parabolica corner, but he wasn’t publicly criticised.

Perhaps Mercedes should have listened to Sainz’s father. His TPC programme last year was extensive, but that couldn’t replicate the learnings of taking part in an F1 season.

Kimi Antonelli has failed to pass David Coulthard’s Lewis Hamilton test

Juan Pablo Montoya says Antonelli needs more ‘guidance’ from the Mercedes team. He hasn’t been able to use the summer break as an effective reset.

Wolff has already said that his next big thing will receive a new contract before his deal expires at the end of this year. But Nico Rosberg doesn’t think Antonelli’s Mercedes future is ‘secure’.

The team’s interest in Max Verstappen is known, and if Antonelli fails to make sufficient progress next year, it’s likely he would be the driver sacrificed should an agreement with the Dutchman be reached.

Antonelli has failed David Coulthard’s ‘Hamilton test’, whereby a truly exceptional driver displays elite pace immediately. He now trails Russell 31-2 in competitive sessions.