Kimi Antonelli’s nightmare run continues with Italian GP practice off

Kimi Antonelli’s second practice at the Italian Grand Prix ended prematurely after running off into the gravel trap.

Antonelli caused the first red flag of the session in second practice at Monza after losing control of his Mercedes at Turn 7. 

The Italian ran wide, off into the gravel trap, before spinning, leaving his Mercedes car facing the wrong way.

Antonelli’s car was beached in the gravel, bringing an end to his running in second practice.

It’s 12 months on from Antonelli’s F1 practice debut for Mercedes.

Antonelli crashed heavily at the Parabolica at the end of the lap during his first outing for the team in 2024.

Explaining his off in FP2, Antonelli said after the session: “Pushed a bit too hard for the grip in the moment. It was a shame. The day was looking good. I had a good FP1 and then the start of FP2 was looking strong. Confidence is still high. Just obviously tomorrow I will have to do a bit of a different programme but I will try to be ready for anything.” 

Antonelli’s poor form continues

It’s been a tough run of weekends for Antonelli.

Kimi Antonelli has scored points twice in the last nine races.

He was hit with a 10-second time penalty at Zandvoort for punting Charles Leclerc out of the race.

Antonelli was also handed a five-second penalty for speeding.

Antonelli’s mistake led to intense criticism from 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who questioned whether the Mercedes driver was even ready to be in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Antonelli has retained the backing of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“When we made it clear last year in Monza that we would give him the opportunity, we were also saying that we would give him a year of learning, and there would be moments where we’d tear our hair out, and there would be other moments of brilliance,” Wolff said after Zandvoort.

“I think this weekend pretty much sums that up. The mistake in FP1, clearly something that puts him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, and then in the race, these moments of great driving.

“Once he was in free air, he was behind the McLaren, the quickest car, caught up, and then again was involved in that accident that unfortunately meant the end for Charles’ race and also for Kimi’s race. But we want him to go for the moves, obviously.

“So, up and downs, and that was absolutely expected from this season. And every one of those days is going to be a learning for next year.”