Kimi Antonelli’s F1 debut
Andrea Kimi Antonelli immediately impressed with his official F1 debut during FP1 at the Italian GP in Monza. The 18-year-old Italian showed speed and personality behind the wheel of the Mercedes W15, but then crashed into the wall after only a few kilometers, facing the first bitter disappointment of his young career. Perhaps for this reason, in his second outing during the first free practice session of the Mexican GP, the Italian talent didn’t take risks, finishing the session in 12th place, more than a second behind teammate George Russell. According to Juan Pablo Montoya, this lack of balance could be the first real problem for Toto Wolff’s team looking ahead to 2025.
Juan Pablo Montoya speaks
During his usual segment on the video column MontoyAS hosted by the Latin American edition of the sports newspaper AS, the 49-year-old former Colombian driver raised the issue, comparing Antonelli’s two contrasting performances at the Monza circuit and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez: “In my opinion, it’s a serious problem that he was so slow in Mexico City. In Italy, he came out of the pits trying to break the track record on his first lap and destroyed the car, while here he tried not to break anything by driving slowly. So… they killed him for the crash and they killed him again because he drove slowly. This is the reality. But he also needs to learn how hard he can push or not, he’ll need to find that balance.”
Juan Pablo Montoya, however, did not overly criticize Antonelli, believing he has the qualities to do well in the competitive world of F1: “I think he has the speed and skills needed to be an F1 driver. The question is whether he is prepared enough to make it. He has done millions of laps compared to all the other drivers who will race next year, except for the drivers already in F1. The preparation he did in F2 compared to others and what Mercedes allowed him to do with the old cars, going to many tracks two or three weeks before the races, has trained him excellently for every race at every track.” In addition to Mexico City and Monza, Kimi Antonelli has driven an F1 car at the Red Bull Ring, Imola, Barcelona, and Silverstone.
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