Mercedes has admitted that it didn’t get it proper in realising the pressures that Andrea Kimi Antonelli would face together with his first FP1 outing on dwelling floor at Monza.
The German producer elected handy Antonelli his first official follow run in its automobile on the Italian Grand Prix, on the identical weekend that he was going to be introduced as a 2025 driver.
However regardless of exhibiting some spectacular pace straight out of the pits, all of it went improper for Antonelli simply 10 minutes into the session as he crashed out at Parabolica after pushing too arduous too quickly.
Reflecting on the occasions of that day, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks it was not an error to provide Antonelli his first run at Monza below such circumstances, however reckons it might have been wiser in hindsight to have let him run some other place first.
“I would not say it was a mistake, however I believe we weren’t utterly proper in assessing the pressures that he might discover himself below,” Wolff instructed Motorsport.com.
“Why that’s, is that we talked about it, and easy methods to strategy the session. He has been sensible in testing. He has by no means put a single foot improper within the many 1000’s of kilometres that he is completed.
“However it’s a unique ball recreation in the event you’re an Italian driver, you are 18 years outdated in Monza and it is your first alternative.
“Possibly if we had thought of that as a danger issue towards the set of knowledge we had from him, in all probability it might have been sensible to provide him an FP1 that might have been in a completely totally different time zone than Italy. However he’ll be taught lots from that.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Toto Wolff, Workforce Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Workforce
Photograph by: Mercedes AMG
Whereas Antonelli’s crash was not excellent by way of inflicting harm to George Russell‘s automobile, Wolff admitted that one among his different issues was the emotional impression that the error would have on the younger Italian on a weekend when he was below the highlight.
“I assumed it is not good for him, as a result of I assumed it is a disgrace for him,” added Wolff. “He was so fast, and that was his first session in Italy, about to be introduced as a driver, which everyone pre-empted.
“I like his strategy. He is quick on the primary lap out of the pits, and that’s what he is demonstrated. Clearly, I’d have loved him being on the leaderboard excessive up and that was taken away as a result of the automobile flew – and a few of these speeds have been solely achieved a lot later in the course of the weekend.
“Clearly he was too quick for the situation of the monitor and for the automobile at that stage, so it was balancing the ambition, the motivation and the ability versus additionally the expertise that FP1 is FP1.
“I knew that that was going to harm him, that was going to harm him emotionally.”
No gamble
Mercedes is conscious that for all of Antonelli’s expertise and potential, he lacks expertise – and which means there’ll doubtless be extra crashes to return.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes F1 W15
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photographs
However Wolff thinks that creating him throughout the surroundings at Brackley is the correct strategy to assist get probably the most out of him.
“I believe that the F1 group that you simply be a part of as a younger driver is key to your efficiency and to your improvement,” he mentioned.
“That is why we determined additionally to convey him straight into Mercedes, so he can be much less polluted with one other, totally different modus operandi.
“I am not saying it is worse or higher. However I believe we need to have it the Mercedes means with him, which suggests additionally investing in this sort of errors that occur. So definitely we all know of the duty that we’ve got for his improvement and likewise for his outcomes.”
Requested if he thought of Mercedes has taken a chance on selling Antonelli at this stage, Wolff mentioned: “No, it is not a chance. It might be a chance in the event you would not imagine in his functionality.
“We have to give him the time to develop. We do not anticipate, touching down in Australia [next year], and him blasting everybody. That is not the expectation.
“I believe it should not be anyone’s expectations. Give him time to develop, after which he can develop into superb. However he must be given the time.”
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