The adventure of Kimi Antonelli in Formula 1 It didn't start in the best way. After a handful of minutes from his entry on the track, the 18-year-old Italian (who had taken the lead of the free practice 1) had oversteer on the entry to the Alboreto curve and ended up against barriersSession over for him after just a lap and a half.
At this point, many people will have thought: "Will entrusting a Mercedes to an 18-year-old boy really be the right choice?", but Toto wolff he staunchly defended his protégé. "First of all he apologized, and I think that's what you have to do when you bring a damaged car back to the pits. It was like a Lego box that fell to the ground. He also told us that he felt so confident in the car, that the car was fast", explained the Mercedes team principal in a press conference.
For those who think that today could undermine the chances of Antonelli to get a seat for 2025, Wolff explains: "This accident will have zero effect on who Russell's teammate will be in 2025. I think the most important thing is choose based on skills. And a bad FP1 is not the reason why you judge the driver negatively". At this point, therefore, all that is really missing is official confirmation.
“The most important thing – Wolff continues – is that he's fine because the crash was 45G. It's a shame because I think that with an hour of time we would have seen some good performances. But that's what we always say: he's a rookie, he's very young, we are ready to invest in your future. These moments will happen, will continue to occur next year as well, but there will also be many beautiful moments. What we saw today is that we have more trouble slowing it down than making it faster: that lap and a half was just amazing and very fast”.
As indirectly confirmed by Wolff himself, therefore, Antonelli will be George Russell's teammate in 2025. At this point, however, the question to ask is another: will we see the Bologna driver back on the track in 2024? Wolff has the answer to this too. “We haven't decided his next commitment with us yet, but I think it will happen in Mexico. We will not anticipate his second FP1 with us because of this accident, I think he is a strong driver who needs to recover from these things and deal with the pressure”.
“Before practice I told him to enjoy himself, take the pressure off and not to forget that this is the best job in the world. And I told him again after the session. This weekend has not been easy for him: he still has to compete in F2, plus he is an Italian guy in his first time in a Mercedes, and this must be a heavy burden. But if he wants to be champion one day, he has to face all this. I have no doubt that he can do it and that he will do it.”.
SOURCE STATEMENTS: FormulaPassion.it
