P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed for Mercedes minutes into his grand prix weekend debut at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Toto Wolff believes Mercedes failed to recognize the pressures placed on Andrea Kimi Antonelli when he made his grand prix debut at the Italian Grand Prix. Antonelli was assigned to George Russell’s W15 for Free Practice 1 at Monza, but crashed at Parabolica. The next day, Antonelli was announced as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement in 2025, with Wolff stating he was the first choice. Despite Antonelli’s prior F1 experience in the TPC program, Wolff felt the team misjudged the situation due to the expectations on him as potentially the first Italian on the grid since 2021. Wolff admitted that they should have considered the risk factors and given Antonelli his debut FP1 session in a different country. He acknowledged the emotional impact on the young driver and expressed regret over the missed opportunity for him at Monza.
