Kimi Antonelli was given his first official F1 outing by Mercedes at the 2024 Italian GP in FP1. Peter Windsor, on the Cameron CC YouTube channel, was asked about what he made of Antonelli’s first session in F1. The former Ferrari manager suggested that the session got to Antonelli’s head.
Antonelli crashed out on his second flying lap in the FP1 session at Monza. The Italian driver had topped the times before this crash. Trying to improve on his first effort, he was purple in the first two sectors but ended up binning the car in the wall at the final corner. Antonelli reportedly lost control and the feel for the car.
Asi fue el accidente de Antonelli en los FP1, en su debut en F1 pic.twitter.com/Eqs6RpBUYH
— FTotal (@FTotal_) August 30, 2024
Windsor said, “I think on that FP1, he was a victim of being an Italian in Italy, having his first proper routing, real proper routing in a race car as distinct from just going out on a Friday or running one of the old cars or whatever it was. And it all went ahead to him. So it went to his head. So it wasn’t very well managed, was it?”
After the session, many pundits and media came out hailing Antonelli for his raw pace despite the crash. Many including James Vowles hailed the Italian’s mini sector times and the minimum speed he carried into the corners. The reports suggested that the minimum speed was 6 to 10 mph higher than the other fastest drivers on the track.
However, Windsor slammed all those claims. The F1 journalist mentioned that the best drivers never carry the fastest minimum speed through a corner. He stated that Antonelli lost the feel for the car and went into Parabolica. Windsor highlighted that a driver like Verstappen, Hamilton, or Senna would never let the feeling of the car get away from them.
Mercedes announced Antonelli despite the worrying crash
Many were concerned about Antonelli’s chances for the Mercedes seat after the crash at the Italian GP FP1. Some claimed that the Italian should’ve taken it easy on his first outing and slowly built up the pace instead of straightaway going for the fastest times in a car that was new to him.
Nonetheless, Toto Wolff had made up his mind and announced Antonelli as Hamilton’s replacement the very next day after the crash. It was Antonelli’s home race and reports had already suggested that the Italian would be announced as a 2025 Mercedes driver in Monza.
Irrespective of the crash, the Silver Arrows’ fans as well as the Italians celebrated the arrival of Antonelli at Mercedes. The Mercedes prodigy was being referred to as the next Verstappen and the hype didn’t succumb despite the subpar FP1 outing.
