Toto Wolff Admits Mercedes Was Wrong About Andrea Kimi Antonelli's In Monza

Saajan Jogia | Oct 9, 2024

2024 Italian Grand Prix, Friday - Jiri Krenek | Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Toto Wolff | Mercedes Press Image / / Jiri Krenek | Mercedes Press Image

Formula 1 Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged that the team made an error by scheduling junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli's first FP1 session at his home venue in Monza, which ended in a crash. Wolff reflected on the circumstances leading to the incident and defended the decision to sign the 18-year-old for 2025, stating it was not a "gamble."

Despite showing impressive pace during the session, the F2 driver pushed too hard and spun into the barriers at Parabolica. The crash came just a day before Antonelli was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's replacement for 2025, where he will partner with the team's lead driver, George Russell.

While Wolff understands that he was in high spirits and under considerable pressure to set a fast time, he admitted that the team wasn't entirely right in choosing Monza for his debut FP1 run. He told Motorsport.com:

"I wouldn't say it was a mistake, but I think we weren't completely right in assessing the pressures that he could find himself under.

"Why that is, is that we talked about it, and how to approach the session. He has been brilliant in testing. He has never put a single foot wrong in the many thousands of kilometres that he's done.

"But it's a different ball game if you're an Italian driver, you're 18 years old in Monza and it's your first opportunity.

"Maybe if we had considered that as a risk factor against the set of data we had from him, probably it would have been wise to give him an FP1 that would have been in a totally different time zone than Italy. But he will learn a lot from that."

Wolff was more concerned about the impact the crash had on Kimi Antonelli's morale than the damage to Russell's W15 F1 car. He added:

"I thought it's not good for him, because I thought it's a shame for him.

"He was so quick, and that was his first session in Italy, about to be announced as a driver, which everybody pre-empted.

"I like his approach. He's fast on the first lap out of the pits, and that is what he's demonstrated. Obviously, I would have enjoyed him being on the leaderboard high up and that was taken away because the car flew - and some of those speeds were only achieved much later during the weekend.

"Obviously he was too fast for the condition of the track and for the car at that stage, so it was balancing the ambition, the motivation and the skill versus also the experience that FP1 is FP1.

"I knew that that was going to hurt him, that was going to hurt him emotionally."

The Mercedes team boss is prepared for such mistakes for the future. The focus remains to help Kimi Antonelli evolve into a potent driver, which will be done "the Mercedes way." He explained:

"I think that the F1 team that you join as a young driver is fundamental for your performance and for your development.

"That's why we decided also to bring him straight into Mercedes, so he would be less polluted with another, different modus operandi.

"I'm not saying it's worse or better. But I think we want to have it the Mercedes way with him, which means also investing in this kind of mistakes that happen. So certainly we know of the responsibility that we have for his development and also for his results."

Wolff offered his rationale, when asked if Kimi Antonelli's signing was a gamble. He said:

"No, it's not a gamble. It would be a gamble if you wouldn't believe in his capability.

"We need to give him the time to develop. We don't expect, touching down in Australia [next year], and him blasting everyone. That's not the expectation.

"I think it shouldn't be anybody's expectations. Give him time to develop, and then he can become very good. But he needs to be given the time."