A day that was set to become historic in the best possible sense of the word turned into a nightmare for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the driver that Mercedes has embraced as its standard-bearer for the future of Formula 1, and that after this Friday may become cloudy, we will see to what extent. The young man, an 18-year-old Italian who physically bears a certain resemblance to Ayrton Senna, replaced George Russell in the first free practice session of the Italian Grand Prix. Before that, he had been undertaking around 12 days of private testing, in which he had transmitted the best sensations.
The test was intended to assess his chances of taking on a difficult task: becoming Lewis Hamilton’s replacement once the seven-time world champion leaves the star brand at the end of this season to get into a Ferrari in 2025. Antonelli’s test, however, only lasted ten minutes, which was the time that passed until the young man crashed into the protections on the outside of the Parabolica, the last corner of the Monza circuit and the most representative of this temple of speed. That happened on his second timed lap, with the softest specification of tyres, and driving on the attack.
Antonelli’s driving error came at an unforgiving part of the track. On Thursday, during a high-speed reconnaissance lap, the Aston Martin Vantage acting as safety car, driven by veteran Bernd Maylander, suffered the same fate, with no details given by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on the cause of the accident.
In the case of the young Mercedes driver, the dynamics of the track exit lead one to think that he made a driving error on his part, which led him to lose control when he was driving in sixth gear, at a speed of around 200 kilometres per hour. Once Antonelli’s car stopped, the young man informed his team, by radio, that he was fine. After leaving the cockpit, he went straight to the track’s medical centre, accompanied by Sergi Ávila, his trainer. There, the doctors applied the predetermined protocol to assess possible injuries after an impact that causes such a deceleration.
With less than ten minutes to go, the protégé of Toto Wolff, director and part owner of the Brackley (Great Britain) team, returned to the workshop, where he was received by the executive. As if the physical and moral blow had not been enough, we will have to see what consequences it has on the future of the Grand Prix. It so happens that Antonelli’s car had a new floor, from which the technicians had to extract all the information possible and compare this data with that of the previous model that Lewis Hamilton’s car had. That will be the short-term effect, pending the effects it will have on Mercedes’ approach to next year.
Until now, Antonelli seemed to be the chosen one to fill the huge void that Hamilton will leave when he puts on red. However, a setback of this calibre could have consequences for the direction taken by the German manufacturer. The problem is that the options have been very limited after Carlos Sainz got tired of waiting and announced, before the holidays, his commitment to Williams for the next few years. With what happened in Monza, the pressure is no longer just on Antonelli, but also on the bosses at Mercedes.
You can follow Morning Express Sports onFacebook andXor sign up here to receiveour newsletter.
