Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says they “absolutely expected” the rollercoaster nature of Kimi Antonelli’s rookie F1 season and retain “no doubt” about the teenager’s ultimate potential after this Dutch Grand Prix was undone by crashing into Charles Leclerc.
Antonelli, 19, experienced an incident-packed weekend on the resumption of F1’s season at Zandvoort.
It ultimately yielded no points after his race-day collision with Leclerc earned him a 10-second penalty. That, combined with a subsequent five-second sanction for speeding in the pit lane, eventually dropped the Italian from sixth to 16th in the final classification.
It means Antonelli has scored just a single point in the last five races but Wolff, whose Mercedes outfit first signed the Italian to their junior programme as a 12-year-old and this year made him the third-youngest F1 driver of all time as replacement for the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, is not worried.
“When we made it clear last year in Monza that we would give him the opportunity, it was also saying that we would give him a year of learning and there would be moments where we’d tear our hair out and there would be other moments of brilliance,” said Wolff.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli gave their thoughts after they crashed into one another, with the incident ending Leclerc’s race.
“I think this weekend pretty much sums that up.”
‘We want him to go for the moves’ – Wolff on Antonelli’s ‘ups and downs’
Antonelli’s Zandvoort weekend began inauspiciously when he beached his car in the gravel in the opening minutes of Friday’s practice session.
Kimi Antonelli got his Mercedes stuck in the gravel during opening practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.
After losing the rest of that session, he went on to qualify 11th after just missing out on Q3 on Saturday.
He dropped to 12th behind Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull at the start of Sunday’s race but his weekend suddenly came alive around the race’s first Safety Car, triggered when Ferrari’s Hamilton crashed out.
Moving into the points after his stop, Antonelli impressively overtook Alex Albon for seventh on lap 34 and was then allowed past team-mate George Russell, whose car had sustained floor damage in an incident with Leclerc, for sixth seven laps later.
Antonelli then set after Leclerc himself but, after finding himself on the Ferrari’s tail after Mercedes pitted him a lap before the Ferrari, he oversteered into his rival’s car as he attempted an overtake by going low into the banked Turn Three.
His subsequent penalties and two more Safety Car periods meant his combined 15-second sanction was particularly costly given the pack finished closer together than would have been the case had the race run uninterrupted.
Reflecting on Antonelli’s latest turbulent weekend, Wolff said: “The mistake in FP1, clearly something that puts you on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, and then in the race, these moments of great driving.
“Once he was in free air, he was behind the McLaren the quickest car, caught up, and then again was involved in that accident that unfortunately meant the end for Charles’ race.
Highlights of the Dutch Grand Prix from Zandvoort.
“But we want him to go for the moves, obviously. So up and downs, and that was absolutely expected from this season and every one of those days is going to be a learning for next year.
“We’re not fighting for a constructor championship. Of course it’s P2 and P3 [in the standings] that is at stake, but this has less relevance than next year when it’s important to score the points.”
Antonelli apologised to Leclerc for the accident after the race and will now head into his first home Italian Grand Prix at Monza this coming week aiming to get his season back on track.
And Wolff insisted: “You always wish that the learning has less humps and bumps than it has today because the swings are enormous but it’s there. It just needs to be unpeeled like an artichoke where at the end there is the gold.
“It’s there and we have no doubt.”
F1’s European season concludes with the Italian Grand Prix – watch the whole Monza weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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