Wolff backs Antonelli after crash on Mercedes FP1 debut

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes a mix of pressure and expectation could explain why Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed out just five laps into his Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli was running in place of George Russell in FP1 at Monza to gain his first experience behind the wheel in an official F1 session but, having initially set the fastest time of the session, he spun off at the final corner and hit the wall with only 10 minutes on the clock.

With the highly rated 18-year-old expected to be named as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes next season, it was not the debut the Italian would have wanted, having minimal running before his shunt brought out the red flag in front of his home fans.

After swearing and apologising over the team radio, Wolff consoled Antonelli, replying: “Kimi all good, all good Kimi.”

Wolff later explained why the circumstances could have worked against Antonelli, who walked away from the 45g impact and underwent tests at the medical centre.

“It is the team that takes the decision whether to hire a driver or not and who to put in FP1 or not and we are running fully conscious into this driver decision, fully conscious of what can happen, what to expect and managing the expectations,” said Wolff.

“Clearly here, with everything piling up on him in Monza, that is very difficult to cope with. Is that the reason why he put it in the wall? Maybe.

“I think the circumstances are guilty…you are under the magnifying glass because it all happens in Monza, it has been a while since an Italian driver was in a top team, this can be a lot for an 18-year-old.

“For him, it feels certainly terrible, but it is part of the development curve. What we see is there is performance, and we have even seen that in the few laps we have seen but what he did, the car couldn’t take.”

Wolff has backed Antonelli to bounce back and revealed the plan is to have him behind the wheel for FP1 in Mexico.

“A strong driver needs to recover from these things, cope with the pressure but obviously this weekend wasn’t easy for him,” remarked Wolff.

“You still need to compete in F2, you have all these shenanigans around you in Monza, an Italian kid that is being hyped, first time in a Mercedes car.

“That must be a heavy burden, but if…