Oct.26 (GMM) Kimi Antonelli admits he “took it straightforward” as he returned to the wheel of a Mercedes in Mexico on Friday.
The 18-year-old, who’s Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 successor, rushed onto the throttle in his official observe debut at Monza just lately – and crashed.
That was in George Russell’s 2024, however this time in Mexico, Antonelli was driving Hamilton’s F1 single seater.
When requested if he was nervous the younger Italian would additionally crash his automotive, seven time world champion Hamilton mentioned on Thursday: “I don’t personally really feel that.
“Kimi is younger, and he’s realized from that first outing. We did our briefing collectively right here, as a result of he’s working with Bono subsequent 12 months, and I mentioned to him ‘You don’t need to set the world alight on the primary lap’.
“Simply construct into it – get pleasure from. I informed him the observe is actually soiled early on.”
It’s believed Antonelli’s tempo was in the end affected by particles injury to the ground, however in the end he did 19 laps – and was over a second off Russell’s main tempo within the sister Mercedes.
“I didn’t wish to take any dangers,” he mentioned. “I took it straightforward.
“We had a program to do with the workforce and I didn’t wish to make errors like in Monza,” Antonelli informed Sky Italia. “I felt I had margin, however there was no have to push.
“I’m blissful. I gained expertise. That’s what I wished to do.”
