Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has suffered a huge crash in his debut F1 practice session at the Italian Grand Prix.
The 18-year-old, who is widely expected to replace Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows for 2025, took over George Russell's car for free practice one in Monza.
His run started in perfect fashion, as he went into first with his first flying lap.
But disaster struck on his sixth lap, as Antonelli lost control of his car coming out of Parabolica.
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The car spun sideways and hit the tyre barrier hard at a square angle. It is unclear as to what caused the crash.
Antonelli was thankfully okay and managed to get out of the car, but it was a devastating end to his opening practice session in an F1 car.
You can see the crash below.
The session wasn't Antonelli's first taste of Monza this weekend, as he took part in free practice for the Formula 2 race with Prema hours earlier. He will continue his F2 duties for the remainder of the weekend as planned as he searches for a third win of the season.
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Speaking at the Dutch Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff appeared to all but confirm that Antonelli would be the team's second driver alongside George Russell for 2025.
He said: "We've taken the decision for drivers for next year. Soon, we will confirm who is in the second seat.
"What I also said is that the two drivers that are in the car have our full support, 100 per cent. And therefore I'm entering the season in 2025 with two drivers that we will be giving all the opportunity to perform.
"That's what I don't want to talk about the 2026 driver lineup at that stage, because I want to make it work with George and Kimi."
Topics:Â Mercedes, Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell
Ryan Smart