Andrea Kimi Antonelli should not have experienced his first taste of F1 at the Monza circuit in his Mercedes, according to team principal Toto Wolff. In hindsight, it might have been better to avoid the amount of pressure that ultimately negatively impacted his first time in the premier motorsport category.
The mistake was also acknowledged by Mercedes itself. The Brackley team admitted that they did not take into account the pressure the young Italian driver might feel. Monza was his first-ever F1 race, and it’s well-known that Monza has a special significance, especially for an Italian driver.
Additionally, it was the weekend of his official announcement as a full-time Mercedes driver for the next season. In short, a combination of factors created significant pressure on the young driver from Bologna, which likely led him to push too hard, resulting in crashing his Mercedes at the Parabolica corner.
Could the Monza crash have been avoided? Toto Wolff’s comments
“Perhaps if we had taken into account this risk and pressure factor, we could have avoided what happened. Maybe it would have been better to debut him on a weekend in a time zone different from the Italian one. But it happened, and we’re sure it will serve as experience and help him learn from this mistake,” Toto Wolff revealed to Motorsport.
“The reason is that we talked about how to approach the session. He was brilliant in testing. He never put a foot wrong in the thousands of kilometers he covered. But if you’re an 18-year-old Italian driver at Monza, it’s a whole different story.” – the Mercedes team boss added.
Toto Wolff also explained the reasoning behind the decision to have him race directly with Mercedes. “I think the F1 team you enter as a young driver is crucial for your performance and development. That’s why we decided to bring him directly to Mercedes, so he would be less influenced by the work and approach of another team,” the Mercedes team principal concluded.
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