Marko thinks 'pressure was maybe too much' for Antonelli at Monza
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed during his F1 debut for Mercedes in Monza. According to Helmut Marko, the pressure might have been a bit too much for the young Italian.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli made his official Formula 1 debut during the first free practice for the Italian Grand Prix on Friday. Antonelli took over the W15 from George Russell, but the young Italian could not enjoy it for long. Indeed, after just a few laps, Antonelli was already in the wall after a hard crash at the last corner. The session was immediately over for him.
Antonelli crashes during F1 debut
''I mean, he had a lot of pressure to be in his home country, first time in a Formula 1 car. Maybe that was too much for him,'' Helmut Marko revealed to GPblog in Monza.
Over the team radio, Antonelli was immediately protected by team principal Toto Wolff. The latter informed that it was no big deal that the Italian had crashed. Mercedes are yet to announce their second driver for 2025, who will replace Lewis Hamilton. It is expected that despite this crash, Antonelli will be announced as Mercedes driver for 2025 this weekend.
Antonelli's weekend is not over yet. In fact, the Italian will also compete with Prema in Formula 2. Antonelli already won the sprint race at Silverstone and the feature race in Hungary. He would be only too happy to add a victory at home with his Italian team.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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