Kimi Antonelli will start his home race from the back of the gridKimi Antonelli has admitted the grid penalties he will serve at the Italian Grand Prix will not be his last of the season.
Mercedes have had strong power units this year and that is a significant part of the reason why they currently lead both championships.
However, reliability has not been great and that has led to this situation where new parts taking Antonelli beyond his annual allocation are unavoidable.
Toto Wolff announced before Mercedes arrived in Italy that this would be the place Antonelli took his grid penalties.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT"Anyway, I think we'll take another penalty with the engine," Antonelli said.
Kimi Antonelli will start his home race from the back of the grid
Kimi Antonelli has admitted the grid penalties he will serve at the Italian Grand Prix will not be his last of the season. The man from Bologna's hopes of winning his home race are extremely slim after Mercedes chose this event as the best one for their championship-leading driver to take the engine penalties coming his way.
Mercedes have had strong power units this year and that is a significant part of the reason why they currently lead both championships. However, reliability has not been great and that has led to this situation where new parts taking Antonelli beyond his annual allocation are unavoidable. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
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Drivers are allowed up to four of each engine component per season, but reliability problems have meant some of those used by Antonelli earlier this year did not last for their full intended life span. And, with 10 scheduled rounds still to go including this weekend's Monza race, getting to the end of the year on his current parts was not a feasible plan.
Toto Wolff announced before Mercedes arrived in Italy that this would be the place Antonelli took his grid penalties. Even though it is the 20-year-old's home race, it is one of the more overtaking-friendly circuits remaining and so give him the best chance of mitigating the damage by coming back through the pack. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
F1 rules dictate that grid penalties which total 15 places or more result in an automatic back-of-grid start, and Mercedes will trigger that by giving Antonelli new parts across the whole engine and battery pack. However, speaking to reporters at Monza, the championship leader admitted that another penalty will have to be taken this year. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
"Anyway, I think we'll take another penalty with the engine," Antonelli said. Second offences beyond the annual allowance are worth five places instead of 10 for the first, and so he only anticipates having to serve a five-place penalty in total at another race before the end of the year, so that he can use Mercedes' upgraded ICE when it is ready.
For now, his focus is on damage limitation this weekend and, in the FIA press conference, Antonelli was asked how he plans to go about that. He replied: "In some ways it helps to release pressure, although I'd very much rather fight for pole and start there at the front. But in some way it makes me a bit more relaxed going into the weekend. I think also that's why I'm going to be able to enjoy more the driving and the weekend itself.
"And of course it's a different opportunity, it's an opportunity to try something different during the weekend, a different work method as well in Free Practice especially, because we have the chance to do so. So yeah, I think it's going to a very interesting weekend."
