Kimi Antonelli: George Russell ‘not very happy’ after crash at Monza

Kimi Antonelli admitted George Russell “was not very happy” at seeing his car put into the wall in free practice at Monza, but maintained the pair “have a good relationship” ahead of their partnership at Mercedes next year.

Teenager Antonelli crashed out of his maiden FP1 outing at his home Grand Prix after only a couple of laps at Monza, going off at the high-speed Parabolica corner and damaging the Mercedes W15 underneath him, having taken over Russell’s chassis for the session.

Kimi Antonelli: George Russell ‘not very happy’ after Monza FP1 crash

Though team principal Toto Wolff was impressed at Antonelli’s outright speed in the early moments of that session, that incident left Russell’s mechanics with work to do to repair his car in time for FP2, but he had to wait for a portion of the session before he was able to run his programme.

Once out on track, Russell reported he had “something moving around” within his cockpit, which was a manageable issue for him at the time, and while he finished seventh on a weekend where Mercedes appeared unable to match the pace of Ferrari and McLaren in particular, his future team-mate admitted to Russell being “not very happy” at seeing his car crashed when it was out of his hands.

When discussing the future, Antonelli added the two have a solid relationship as it stands, but as with any driver pairing, he will head into next season wanting to finish ahead of his more experienced team-mate.

“That first lap was a unique emotion with all those people in the stands,” Antonelli told the Festival dello Sport, as quoted by Sky Italia . “Now I will have two more opportunities in Mexico and Abu Dhabi.

More on how the F1 2025 season is taking shape

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 Official: F1 2025 calendar announced with major change to start Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari era

“[Russell] was not very happy, but before going out at the Parabolica I was going strong.

“With George I have a good relationship, he did not give me much advice, but for now everything is fine. But next year I want to beat him.”

The weekend at Monza was also the time where his drive at Mercedes was confirmed for next year, with Antonelli set to become one of Formula 1’s youngest ever drivers in the process next season.

With still several months before he officially becomes a driver in the top tier, the young Italian admitted it will take time for the news to sink in.

“I haven’t realised yet that I will drive in F1, maybe I will in Melbourne,” he said.

“It will be very exciting, but at the moment I’m just thinking about working on myself.

“For sure it will be important to stay calm, trying not to think about anything other than what you have to do, concentrating on the start and trying to visualise the different situations.

“The butterflies in my stomach will be there but I will try to focus on what to do.”

Read next: Fresh F1 return hope for Mick Schumacher with talks held