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PIT + PADDOCK Antonelli f inally named as Hamilton’s Merc FORMULA 1 Mercedes finally confirmed at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix that its 18-year-old protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in its Formula 1 line-up for 2025. Antonelli had long been Mercedes’ preferred in-house pick to succeed the Briton, but team boss Toto Wolff kept a sliver of hope that he would be able to prise world champion Max Verstappen away from Red Bull. In talks between Wolff and the Verstappen camp over the summer, it was agreed that door has closed for now, meaning that there was no longer any obstacle to Mercedes announcing Antonelli as George Russell’s new team-mate. “I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he’s going to Ferrari,” Wolff said about his decision to promote Antonelli. “Obviously, we were discussing other options, and also kept the Max idea. We didn’t discount it completely with looking at what happened at Red Bull, but instinctively, that is the line-up with these two that I always wanted. We wouldn’t have gone for the line-up with Oops! Debut FP1 outing at Monza did not end well MAUGER IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY: MOTORSPORT ALL these two if we wouldn’t believe 100% that they are the best choice for Mercedes.” Antonelli, who will use race number 12, has been part of the Mercedes junior driver programme since 2019. After winning championships in karting, he has swept to the Italian and German F4 titles in 2022, and the European and Middle East Formula Regional crowns in 2023, all with Italian single-seater powerhouse Prema Racing. This year he stepped up to F2 with Prema, and has endured highs and lows throughout the campaign. He scored a maiden F2 win in Silverstone’s sprint and added a further triumph in the Hungaroring feature race. He occupies sixth position in the standings. “Reaching F1 is a dream I’ve had since I was a small boy,” Antonelli said. “I want to thank the team for the support they’ve given me and the faith they’ve shown in me. I am still learning a lot, but I feel ready for the opportunity.” Alongside his F2 commitments, Mercedes has also handed the Italian an extensive test programme in its previous F1 cars, including its 2022 ground effect W13. His first outing in an FP1 session for Mercedes took place on Friday at Monza but ended in a high-speed 52G crash at Parabolica. “I guess he was just bitten,” Wolff said about the shunt after just a handful of practice laps. “Everyone suffered from the temperature, especially rear temperatures 4 AUTOSPORT.COM 5 SEPTEMBER 2024
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PIT + PADDOCK replacement around Ascari at these kinds of speeds – that is why the rear stepped out. We would rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster. What we have seen in one and a half laps is just astonishing.” SARGEANT OUT, COLAPINTO IN Over at Williams, Formula 2 race winner Franco Colapinto finished 12th on his grand prix debut at Monza after being subbed in to replace the underperforming Logan Sargeant. The 21-year-old Argentinian was drafted in on the Monday after the Dutch GP when Sargeant’s latest practice crash convinced team boss James Vowles to make a quick driver change. Vowles turned to Williams academy driver Colapinto after deciding against bringing in Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson was also under consideration, but only if Red Bull could keep the option to recall him on short notice, which was not a suitable arrangement for Williams. Colapinto vacated his MP Motorsport seat in F2 for the chance to contest the last nine F1 races of 2024. An off through Lesmo 2 left Colapinto 18th in qualifying, just over a tenth away from making Q2. But a mature, error-free race allowed him to move to 12th on Sunday, earning the plaudits of Vowles as team-mate Alex Albon finished ninth. FILIP CLEEREN BLOXHAM S Race ban for Magnussen is criticised by rival drivers FORMULA 1 Kevin Magnussen has received a one-race Formula 1 ban after reaching 12 penalty points on his superlicence following his Italian Grand Prix clash with Pierre Gasly last Sunday. The Dane was hit with a 10-second penalty for contact with Gasly at the Roggia chicane, after the stewards had deemed him wholly to blame for the incident. Crucially, they also handed him two penalty points, which brings the Haas driver up to the maximum of 12 over a one-year period. Magnussen will therefore miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month. He accrued his other 10 penalty points in the opening five races of the season, meaning that a ban had dangled above his head since May’s Miami GP. Magnussen was “completely confused” by the decision, feeling that it was a smaller incident than the earlier clash between team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo that earned a larger penalty. “I don’t understand it at all,” he said. “Me and Gasly raced hard into Turn 4. Before, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, came back on track again, no damage to either car, no consequence to the race of either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty. But lap one, Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300km/h, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car, and he gets a five-second penalty. Where’s the logic? I just don’t get it.” Gasly reckoned Magnussen did not deserve a penalty. “I’m a bit surprised by that because he tried, but it was a XXXXXXXXX MAUGER bit of wheel to wheel and, in the end, I really didn’t lose any time,” the Alpine driver said. “I hope somehow they can revert that because that would be definitely unfair. I’ll be happy to [vouch for Magnussen] – I’ll see what I can do. That will feel very unfair for the incident that it was.” Fernando Alonso added his sympathies for Magnussen, feeling that some of the points he has notched up were for minor infractions rather than downright dangerous driving, which is why they were introduced in the first place. “Penalty points, as we discussed many times, should be for dangerous driving,” Alonso said. “This is part of racing.” Haas is likely to turn to its reserve, 2025 race driver Ollie Bearman, to replace Magnussen in Baku. It would be Bearman’s second grand prix start after he deputised for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia. JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE P14 ITALIAN GP Gasly, here leading Magnussen, spoke up for the Dane BAGNALL 5 SEPTEMBER 2024 AUTOSPORT.COM 5

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replacement around Ascari at these kinds of speeds – that is why the rear stepped out. We would rather have a problem in slowing him down than making him faster. What we have seen in one and a half laps is just astonishing.” SARGEANT OUT, COLAPINTO IN Over at Williams, Formula 2 race winner Franco Colapinto finished 12th on his grand prix debut at Monza after being subbed in to replace the underperforming Logan Sargeant. The 21-year-old Argentinian was drafted in on the Monday after the Dutch GP when Sargeant’s latest practice crash convinced team boss James Vowles to make a quick driver change.

Vowles turned to Williams academy driver Colapinto after deciding against bringing in Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson was also under consideration, but only if Red Bull could keep the option to recall him on short notice, which was not a suitable arrangement for Williams. Colapinto vacated his MP Motorsport seat in F2 for the chance to contest the last nine F1 races of 2024.

An off through Lesmo 2 left Colapinto 18th in qualifying, just over a tenth away from making Q2. But a mature, error-free race allowed him to move to 12th on Sunday, earning the plaudits of Vowles as team-mate Alex Albon finished ninth. FILIP CLEEREN

BLOXHAM

S

Race ban for Magnussen is criticised by rival drivers

FORMULA 1 Kevin Magnussen has received a one-race Formula 1 ban after reaching 12 penalty points on his superlicence following his Italian Grand Prix clash with Pierre Gasly last Sunday.

The Dane was hit with a 10-second penalty for contact with Gasly at the Roggia chicane, after the stewards had deemed him wholly to blame for the incident. Crucially, they also handed him two penalty points, which brings the Haas driver up to the maximum of 12 over a one-year period. Magnussen will therefore miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month. He accrued his other 10 penalty points in the opening five races of the season, meaning that a ban had dangled above his head since May’s Miami GP.

Magnussen was “completely confused” by the decision, feeling that it was a smaller incident than the earlier clash between team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo that earned a larger penalty. “I don’t understand it at all,” he said. “Me and Gasly raced hard into Turn 4. Before, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, came back on track again, no damage to either car, no consequence to the race of either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty. But lap one, Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300km/h, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car, and he gets a five-second penalty. Where’s the logic? I just don’t get it.”

Gasly reckoned Magnussen did not deserve a penalty. “I’m a bit surprised by that because he tried, but it was a

XXXXXXXXX

MAUGER

bit of wheel to wheel and, in the end, I really didn’t lose any time,” the Alpine driver said. “I hope somehow they can revert that because that would be definitely unfair. I’ll be happy to [vouch for Magnussen] – I’ll see what I can do. That will feel very unfair for the incident that it was.”

Fernando Alonso added his sympathies for Magnussen, feeling that some of the points he has notched up were for minor infractions rather than downright dangerous driving, which is why they were introduced in the first place. “Penalty points, as we discussed many times, should be for dangerous driving,” Alonso said. “This is part of racing.”

Haas is likely to turn to its reserve, 2025 race driver Ollie Bearman, to replace Magnussen in Baku. It would be Bearman’s second grand prix start after he deputised for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia. JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE

P14 ITALIAN GP

Gasly, here leading Magnussen, spoke up for the Dane

BAGNALL

5 SEPTEMBER 2024 AUTOSPORT.COM 5

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