02/07/2025 18:20
Kimi Antonelli must put his grid penalty at the British Grand Prix
"to the back of his mind", according to Mercedes trackside
engineering director Andrew Shovlin. The young Italian will start
the race at Silverstone three places lower than he qualifies, as
punishment for his first-lap crash at the preceding Austrian Grand
Prix. After failing to change the brake settings on his W16 heading
into the third corner, Antonelli locked up and went slamming into
Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen. Whilst the New Zealander was able
to continue, the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers were instantly
forced into retirement. Deemed at fault for the incident after his
error, Antonelli was subsequently penalised by the stewards after
the race at the Red Bull Ring. However, the British engineer
highlighted how crucial setting that aside will be for the Mercedes
driver. Nonetheless, Shovlin is unconcerned about the long-term
impact on the Brackley-based squad's driver, despite conceding the
18-year-old was "very disappointed" and "embarrassed" by the
episode. "Kimi will be fine," he said in the eight-time
constructors' champion's post-Spielberg debrief. "He was very
disappointed after the race and embarrassed to have made a mistake
that ultimately took Max out as well. "Now he'll get a penalty for
that. He held his hand up. He wasn't pretending it was anyone
else's fault. "He's got that grid penalty in Silverstone, but he's
going to have to put that to the back of his mind and just focus on
qualifying as far up the grid as possible, getting the car set up
for qualifying, getting it set up for the race." Antonelli has put
together a strong debut campaign in F1, including a sprint pole in
Miami and a podium at the Canadian Grand Prix. 11 rounds into the
schedule, he has scored 63 points, and Shovlin expects him to
"bounce back strong" after his mistake in Styria. "But he'll be
over that by now," the 51-year-old said. "He's fully focused on the
next event. "He'll be in with Bono [race engineer Pete Bonnington]
and the engineering team working on the setup in preparation. And
I'm sure that he'll bounce back strong."
