Mercedes group principal Toto Wolff says his group understands the strain it’s placing its 2025 rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli underneath.
The group confirmed final weekend in Monza that their 18-year-old junior driver will likely be promoted into Lewis Hamilton’s race seat for 2025 when the seven-times world champion strikes to Ferrari on the finish of the present season.
Antonelli made his first look in a grand prix follow session ultimately week’s Italian Grand Prix, driving George Russell’s automotive. Nonetheless, Antonelli misplaced management of his automotive on the closing nook, Alboreto, on the finish of his second push lap and crashed closely.
Regardless of Antonelli’s accident so quickly into his first outing in an official F1 session, Wolff insisted that his group is conscious of the strain they had been asking their younger future driver to cope with.
“On the finish, it’s the group that takes the selections whether or not to rent a driver or not and who to place in FP1 and never,” Wolff stated.
“We’re operating absolutely aware into these driver choices, absolutely aware of what can occur, what to anticipate and managing the expectations. Clearly with the whole lot piling up on him in Monza, that’s very troublesome to deal with. Is that the rationale why he put it within the wall? Perhaps. I take a look at driving efficiency. Like I stated earlier than, I’d reasonably gradual any person down than make him quick, as a result of the second is not possible.”
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Antonelli has been promoted into System 1 after 20 races in his first System 2 marketing campaign with Prema having jumped from System Regional stage previous System 3 and instantly into F2. Regardless of his relative lack of expertise in comparison with many rookies who’ve joined the F1 grid lately, Wolff is adamant that Mercedes have seen sufficient from their junior driver to provide them confidence he’ll carry out subsequent season.
“In our business, we completely perceive who’s succesful and never,” he stated.
“I feel the way it’s all panned out right here, he’s jumped F3, he’s just about gained the whole lot beforehand then it’s clear you begin to change into a Mercedes driver, you check in FP1, and on the similar time you’re underneath the magnifying glass as a result of all of it occurs in Monza. And it has been some time that an Italian driver was in a high group. So I’m certain that this is usually a lot for an 18-year-old.
“However as I stated earlier than, he must swim. And as of late which might be so troublesome, like it’s for him in the intervening time, it feels definitely horrible. And that’s a part of the event curve. And I don’t wish to be the one who picks out nice moments and says, ‘effectively, did you see that sector? Did you see that lap time?’ Or that we may have been third or first or no matter. However what we see is there’s efficiency. And we’ve even seen that within the few laps that we’ve seen, however what he tried to do, the automotive can’t take.”
Apart from his Monza outing, Antonelli has additionally pushed Mercedes F1 vehicles a number of instances this 12 months underneath the ‘testing with earlier vehicles’ programme allowed underneath the rules. Wolff says Antonelli’s exams have revealed his strengths as a driver in addition to areas for growth.
“Definitely his uncooked pace that’s there,” Wolff stated. “He’s in a position to sit within the automotive after which put in fast laps.
“The tyre administration is a piece in progress and is a studying curve. So that’s going forward. So it’s precisely how the targets which were set for a 17-year-old to develop and to lastly be prepared someday to make it right into a race automotive.”
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