Kimi Antonelli now faces life without shield from critics

Andrea Kimi Antonelli recently found herself under fire. First Jacques Villeneuve questioned his relevance for Formula 1, then Nico Rosberg expressed a similar feeling, although in less dramatic terms. Two former critical world champions against Antonelli – and now Toto Wolff has joined the chorus.

The director of the Mercedes team told Servustv that the 19 -year -old man had made “too many mistakes” in his original Grand Prix in Monza. Antonelli’s performance, Wolff said, was “disappointing” – a choice of words directly striking someone who had hitherto always protected his recruit from public reproach.

When Antonelli crashed into the barriers of the Alboreto corner (parabolica) of Monza a year ago, he was rewarded by his first formula 1 contract the same weekend. Since then, errors had apparently had no consequences. In interviews, Wolff had never allowed a word of criticism to pass his lips.

Now, after Antonelli’s ninth place in Monza, it has changed: “You can’t put the car in the gravel bed [on Friday] And expect to be there, “Wolff told the media written after the Grand Prix.” The whole race was disappointing.

“What he needs now is simply to deliver a solid weekend,” he added on Servustv. “So he’s just there, fighting with [Charles] Leclerc and George [Russell]. “”

There is still no doubt about the raw speed of the Mercedes Junior. Since the team returned to its previous suspension, Antonelli has found easier to extract the performance of the car. In Monza qualifying, he was only 0.043 seconds from his experienced Russell teammate.

However, the race has also shown why Russell is Mercedes’ reliable hand while Antonelli remains a bet for the future. The Italian went from the sixth to the 10th at the start and then engaged a penalty for his erratic conduct.

“I just went a little deep with the clutch and I immediately lost Wheelspin, and I just lost so many places,” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1. “It compromised the race because I found myself running. It was not ideal. Even on the mediums, I had a little trouble, I made some mistakes, I just couldn’t find my rhythm.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo of: Beata Zawrzel / Nurphoto via Getty Images

Antonelli finally finished ninth on hard tires, but underwent Alexander Albon’s pressure on much fresher softs. In turn 45, Albon tried to go around the outside in Curva Grande, but Antonelli derived largely and forced him to back down. The stewards took a dark view: five seconds added, plus a penalty point.

“When Albon was drawing the sides of Antonelli at high speed, Antonelli moved to the left and tightened Albon who had two wheels on the grass,” read the decision. “The commissioners determine that by doing this, he led in a manner potentially dangerous for Albon.”

Wolff agreed with the sanction. “I think it was simply useless,” he told Sky Germany. “Albon was so much faster. If you can defend, you take out your elbows. If you can’t, then you make sure you don’t waste time. But the way it did – it was not necessary.”

Antonelli returned to the ninth house. Against Russell, the score is now from 2 to 17 in qualifying and from 0 to 19 in the races (including sprints). Russell experienced a record also unbalanced in 2019 in Williams, when his teammate Robert Kubica was trying to return after his serious rally accident.

“The weekend really started for him when he left in the gravel,” said Wolff on Servus TV. “Unhappy, as in Zandvoort. In Bakou, he must deliver a clean weekend. There will be less pressure there. He is a track he knows.”

However, Wolff underlined during his media session after the race, his review of Monza’s performance “does not change anything about my support and my confidence in his future. Because I think he’s going to be very, very, very good. But today, he was disappointing.”

Antonelli himself underlined the positive points: “Certainly the qualifications were a step forward. It was a bit weak in the last races.”

The Friday crash was however expensive. He admitted that such errors should stop because they left him on the rear foot in Zandvoort and Monza during the long shopping.

Wolff said he intended to recalibrate Antonelli’s state of mind with “talks”.

“A clean weekend also means, almost, not to transport too much trauma from previous errors in the next session or next weekend. Because they are luggage. You are not going to attack a corner if you have already been there and finished your session,” he said in his post-course round table.

For Wolff, Antonelli always has all the tools to succeed in Formula 1. But something blocks it for the moment.

“I release him. He is a big pilot, he has this incredible capacity and this natural talent, he is a runner. That’s all there. Everything is there. But we have to get rid of the ballast of previous races.”