Kimi Antonelli crashes after just 10 minutes of first F1 session for Mercedes at Monza

The 18-year-old lost control at the final turn of his home Monza circuit in first practice on Friday

(Getty Images)

Mercedes prospect Kimi Antonelli crashed out of his first F1 session after just 10 minutes of first practice at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

The 18-year-old, widely expected to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year, was taking part in his first F1 session on Friday in George Russell’s car.

After shooting to the top of the timesheet early on, Antonelli’s second flying lap ended in disaster as he skidded off the racetrack at the final Parabolica corner.

His car smashed into the TecPro barrier in what was a high-speed impact. Antonelli immediately went on the radio, saying: “I’m OK.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff replied: “All good Kimi, all good.”

Antonelli, who only turned 18 last Sunday and is racing in Formula 2 this year, is expected to be named as a Mercedes driver imminently, partnering Russell next year.

But his shunt, a matter of minutes into his F1 career, is far from ideal and now Mercedes mechanics have a race on to get the car in shape for second practice later this afternoon.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mercedes’ chief communications officer Bradley Lord said: “It was a pretty hefty impact at a high-speed corner, we’ll assess the car and hopefully get it turned around for FP2.

“It’s unfortunate that it ended the way it did, he was on the limit and so that’s a learning curve.

“It’s a high support environment, it’s all about getting him back into a good place for F2 qualifying later.”