Kimi Antonelli suffers car crash ahead of opening Bahrain F1 test

Kimi Antonelli will take part in this week’s opening Bahrain pre-season F1 test after being unharmed in a road car crash.

The 19-year-old Italian suffered a crash close to his home in San Marino on Saturday evening but was unhurt in the accident, his Mercedes team confirmed.

No other vehicle was involved in the crash, which saw Antonelli impact a guardrail while driving a Mercedes AMG GT 63 PRO4MATIC+ “Motorsport Collectors Edition”. The car is one of just 200 produced by Mercedes.

“We can confirm that Kimi was involved in a traffic accident on Saturday night close to his home in San Marino,” a Mercedes spokesperson told Crash.net.

“The police attended the scene, after being called by Kimi. His was the only car involved and while his vehicle was damaged, Kimi was completely unhurt.”

Antonelli’s crash will not impact his participation in the first official week of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, which takes place between 11-13 February.

Mercedes have already confirmed that Antonelli will drive the W17 in the afternoon on the opening day of the test as he alternates with teammate George Russell.

A second three-day test will be held in Bahrain on 18-20 February, before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 8 March. 

Antonelli finished seventh in the drivers' championship in an up-and-down rookie F1 season. 

The Mercedes prodigy finished just six points behind seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who he replaced at the Silver Arrows. 

Antonelli claimed three podium finishes and scored his first pole position for the Miami sprint race.