The youngest driver on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix faced high expectations as well as difficult conditions on his debut.
Mercedes had nurtured Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s career for years. But while his team mate George Russell got to make his Formula 1 debut in the relatively low-pressure environment of Williams, Antonelli was thrust straight into the top team, in the seat previously occupied by no less a talent than Lewis Hamilton.Thrust into the spotlight, Antonelli stumbled in qualifying, damaging his car and dropping out in Q1. That left him near the back of the grid.
The foul conditions which greeted the teams on Sunday, after 48 hours of fine weather, were hardly ideal for Antonelli or any of the other rookies. However he had the benefit of a long testing programme in Mercedes’ F1 cars, some of which took place in similarly wet conditions.
Antonelli was well prepared, and though his race wasn’t flawless, he produced a superb drive to finish fourth. Here’s how he did it.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Australian Grand Prix radio transcript
Jump to:
“Right-hand side?”
“I had a moment”
“Hulkenberg is doing burn-outs into the pit lane”
“I like that”
“That was a wheel on the grass”
“Has DRS been disabled?”
“Alonso crashed”
“Do you think we can have HPP 12?”
“Take it easy in this restart”
“Mate, he’s defending!”
“I didn’t press it”
“Nice job”
“You are the only rookie that kept it on the road”
“Right-hand side?”
Antonelli lined up 16th on the grid, having been eliminated from qualifying the day before. The original attempt to start the race was abandoned after Isack Hadjar crashed.
Ahead of the second attempt to start the race, Bonnington reminded Antonelli there would be some empty spots on the grid, and to be sure to line up in the correct one. Antonelli spotted his mistake in identifying which side of the grid he should start from.
| Lap: 1/57 ANT: 2’22.352 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Initial clutch target drop was on target, then fed in deep. Okay Kimi, so we’re going to cool the call car turn 11, so coasting turn 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And it’ll be three burn-outs, three burn-outs. There’s a couple of cars missing from the grid, just look for your name, left-hand side. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Right-hand side? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Sorry, the board is on the left-hand side. The board is on the left-hand side. You should be on the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So set your b-bal, b-mig [brake balance, brake migration] and then strat mode five, last car in place. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I had a moment”
When the race finally started, Jack Doohan lost control of his car at the exit of turn five and crashed out. Antonelli came very close to making the same error, catching a huge slide as he accelerated out of the corner.
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| Bonnington | So we have Safety Car, Safety Car, keep the delta positive. So we are staying out, brake magic on, delta. Strat mode one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Antonelli catches a huge snap of oversteer at the exit of turn five Fuck, I had a moment. |
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| Bonnington | Okay, copy. Doohan crashed between five and six. Just stay on top of the temps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 2/57 ANT: 2’49.800 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just 10 car lengths once we’re into the pack. Safety Car is at turn five at the moment. Doohan crashed on the left-hand side so the debris expected to be on left-hand side. Sainz has just gone off, final corner. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, copy, saw that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, so the Safety Car will be coming through the pit lane, so we’ll follow that. Just remember when you’re coming through the pit lane, you’re staying in the fast lane and using the pit limiter. So just stay on top of those temps as best you can, but just be careful. We’ve had a couple of cars off already. Sainz [was] just trying to get temp. So you’ll be coming through the pit lane and reminder for pit limiter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Copy that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Staying in the fast lane, driving through. Just watch the white line on exit. Still recovering Doohan’s car. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 3/57 ANT: 2’44.755 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | We’ll be through the pit lane again. So through the pit lane, and remember pit limiter again. From the replays looks like Doohan lost it on straight just by putting a wheel on the white lines. Just watch painted lines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, I almost did the same, so yeah, they’re quite slippery. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, good man. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Hulkenberg is doing burn-outs into the pit lane”
Although Antonelli was now up to 13th he had lost a position to Nico Hulkenberg. He suspected the Sauber driver had broken a rule in the pit lane, and advised his team, but his rival was not investigated.
| Lap: 4/57 ANT: 2’34.598 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Uh, Hulkenberg is doing burn-outs into the pit lane. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. So recovery vehicle on track, recovery vehicle. So a bit more brake magic if we can have it. Just try and get that temp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | How can I help rears? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, we’ve got that turned up already, so the rest is in your control. So through the pit lane again, and again, pit limiter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | If it doesn’t rain again, it’s going to be drying. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. No rain on the forecast for the next 20, 30 minutes. Again, white line on exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 5/57 ANT: 2’19.163 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Recovery vehicle, looks like it’s still on track. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So this time the Safety Car will use the start-finish straight. So we’ll stay out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So staying out, staying out. So that recovery vehicle that should have moved, it’s just parking up now I think, it’s around turn eight, nine. So, recovery vehicle, you’re about to go past. Kimi, can we have HPP three position three, three position three. So the Safety Car is going to be in end of this lap. Temps have been building slowly now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 7/57 ANT: 2’03.412 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So for the restart, it will be strat mode five, I’ll let you know. So let’s go strat mode five now. Strat mode five. Just make sure you’ve got your B-bal set. The race restarts |
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| Bonnington | Ignore the oxidation warnings, ignore oxidation warnings. And can we have HPP 12 position two, 12 position two. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 9/57 ANT: 1’36.312 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | HPP 12 position one, 12 position one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I like that”
Antonelli made some progress once the race restarted, passing Hulkenberg.
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| Lap: 10/57 ANT: 1’35.270 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And cool the left-hand side tyres where you can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 11/57 ANT: 1’34.678 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | I start to feel the overheating. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 12/57 ANT: 1’35.385 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So just look for water where you can. DRS has been enabled. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi can we have chassis default 19, chassis one-nine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 14/57 ANT: 1’33.802 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just look for the wet patches where you can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli passes Hulkenberg into turn 11 Nice work, Kimi, I like that! Okay, Hulkerberg 0.9 behind, got Stroll three ahead. There may be light rain now. Stroll ahead was a 33.1, front-runners were doing 30.8. |
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“That was a wheel on the grass”
However soon afterwards he spun off at turn four and fell back behind Hulkenberg. Bonnington made sure he understood his error.
| Lap: 15/57 ANT: 1’32.212 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Suggest coming up on diff mid, one or two steps. Still find the water, look for the water. Antonelli spins at turn four, gets going again but loses a place to Hulkenberg. |
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| Lap: 16/57 ANT: 1’37.326 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Bortoleto 0.9 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Kimi that was a wheel on the grass, so just be careful. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 17/57 ANT: 1’32.312 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So we have a Stroll ahead at six-and-a-half seconds. Last lap was a 33.8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 18/57 ANT: 1’32.181 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | The rain is picking up. And we go strat mode seven, strat mode. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 20/57 ANT: 1’31.319 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So this rain will persist for another eight to ten minutes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | How is the pace? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Front runners are mid-30, George doing 32.2. So Stroll ahead at 2.8, last lap at 32.6. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 21/57 ANT: 1’31.042 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay Kimi, we saw diff high-speed change, diff mid would also be effective plus two, diff mid plus two. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Has DRS been disabled?”
Antonelli regained his position from Hulkenberg and passed Lance Stroll as well, leaving him one place outside the points. Next he applied pressure to the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, spending several laps within DRS range, then slipping back slightly.
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| Lap: 22/57 ANT: 1’31.887 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli passes Stroll at turn 11 Strat mode six, nice work mate. We’ve got Alonso four-and-a-half seconds ahead. |
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| Lap: 23/57 ANT: 1’31.324 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Kimi can we have HPP three position two, three position two. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 24/57 ANT: 1’30.822 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Alonso at 32.5, gap at 3.4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 26/57 ANT: 1’31.299 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Alonso ahead, 31.7. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 27/57 ANT: 1’30.463 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Has DRS been disabled? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Negative, that gap is at 1.1. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And think about magic for turn 13 understeer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/57 ANT: 1’29.794 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | I’m struggling with overheating. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, copy Kimi. Just think about pulling back the entry, focus on the exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And just think about cooling the tyres where you can, driving offline. I’m sure you’re doing as much as you can. You can think about just pushing a b-bal forwards a little, just to help the rears. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Alonso crashed”
Alonso pulled two seconds clear of Antonelli, then crashed heavily at the exit of turn six. This triggered a Safety Car deployment which Mercedes, like their rivals, reacted to immediately by bringing their driver in for slick tyres.
| Lap: 32/57 ANT: 1’29.032 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just start opening up your diff with the understeer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Kimi, how far from slicks do you think it is? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 33/57 ANT: 1’52.635 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Still a bit far. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Copy that, Kimi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Alonso spins into a barrier in front of Antonelli Alonso crashed. |
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| Bonnington | Copy, copy. You are in your Safety Car window for slick tyres. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | What the others are doing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | We don’t know yet. So Safety Car, Safety Car. Keep the delta positive. So strat mode one and box, box. So we are going to go to slicks. Thanks for pit confirm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli leaves his pit box. The stewards originally deemed Mercedes released him unsafely in front of Hulkenberg and gave him a five-second time penalty, but cancelled their decision after the race Menu wet position one, so menu wet position one. And you’re pushing down to Safety Car [line] two. So just be careful with these tyres, we’re just going to need to build some temp. |
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“Do you think we can have HPP 12?”
In his first race, Antonelli appeared confident enough with Mercedes’ systems to suggest switch changes before Bonnington advised him to make them.
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| Lap: 34/57 ANT: 2’22.596 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Do you think we can have HPP 12? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | I was about to say, if you go HPP 12, position four. Use your brake magic so you’ve got that on. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Can we have HPP seven position three, seven position three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | The Safety Car did not pick up the leader when it joined the track. Antonelli and other drivers were waved past it after they passed the crash scene Okay Kimi you’re currently sitting in P10. So just being waved through. |
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| Lap: 35/57 ANT: 1’44.670 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | He approaches the crash scene So Alonso still parked there. |
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| Lap: 36/57 ANT: 1’41.655 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Do you think I can switch the HPP 12 off, or still keep it on? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So down to two. Okay Kimi we have marshals on track turn six, seven sorting the gravel and then a recovery vehicle at turn eight. So look for marshals and recovery vehicle. So the Safety Car is between turns 10 and 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 37/57 ANT: 2’07.298 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So you’re joining the pack now. So maybe we think about coming back up on HPP 12, position four. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Uh, you want me to switch that off? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah you go 12 position four. And there is a possibility of rain later in the race. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 38/57 ANT: 2’19.681 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Double yellow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 39/57 ANT: 2’11.642 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And maybe some light rain in the last sector, so 11 to 13. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Take it easy in this restart”
As drivers prepared for the restart on slick tyres, Bonnington reminded Antonelli not to repeat his earlier error. Shortly afterwards the rain returned, Antonelli passed Leclerc’s spun Ferrari and immediately headed back into the pits for intermediates.
| Lap: 40/57 ANT: 2’09.615 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi, just take it easy in this restart, just using all the track, there’s still quite a lot of water out there, so it’s a tight line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, copy that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/57 ANT: 2’06.220 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Safety Car’s going to be in this lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So you can go back on HPP 12. So HPP 12 position one. So it’ll be strat mode five, strat mode five. Safety Car at turn 12. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/57 ANT: 1’27.505 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | The race restarts It feels like the wind is picking up. And light rain in two to three minutes. |
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| Bonnington | DRS has been enabled. That rain is going to hit us soon. The rain could get pretty intense. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/57 ANT: 1’48.276 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And expecting that rain to increase, so let us know what you see. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Box, box. Box, box. Box, box. Box, box. And then wet position three, wet position three.>Russell ahead and Stroll behind also pit. Antonelli is briefly delayed behind his team mate which allows Stroll to get back in front of him through the pits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 45/57 ANT: 1’35.593 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | This rain is going to build for two to three minutes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Mate, he’s defending!”
Antonelli repassed Stroll, then caught Oliver Bearman, now driving for Haas, who was a lap down. To Antonelli’s frustration Bearman moved towards the inside line as he gained on him approaching turn three.
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| Lap: 46/57 ANT: 1’30.780 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli passes Stroll on the outside approaching turn nine Nice work, mate. This last sector looks wet. Bearman ahead is traffic, so he has blue flags. Look for the water as much as you can. Bearman has blue flags. |
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| Lap: 47/57 ANT: 2’05.750 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Mate, he’s defending! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | So Safety Car, Safety Car, no overtaking. So keep delta positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Mate, they’re defending on me, I don’t know? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, just stay in position now, but yeah, we’re on to them. We’ve also got Lawson off. So Bortoleto off at turn 13, Lawson off turn two. And we’ve got HPP 12 position four, 12 position four. We’ll go strat mode one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 48/57 ANT: 1’58.429 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi, no more rain expected. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Safety Car between turns 10 and 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 49/57 ANT: 2’24.964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just make those temps as best you can, mate. So lapped cars may now overtake, so that’s going to mean Bearman gets out of our way. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I didn’t press it”
There was some brief confusion when Bonnington saw a ‘pit confirm’ signal from Antonelli’s car when he was not supposed to come in.
| Lap: 50/57 ANT: 2’20.284 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Bonnington gets the ‘pit confirm’ signal from Antonelli’s car I’m not sure that was a deliberate pit confirm there. |
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| Antonelli | Well, I didn’t press it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, don’t worry about it | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | How can I reset it? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It will reset over the line, don’t worry. Okay Kimi so a car ahead, Albon. And you’ve got Stroll, Hulkenberg, Gasly, cars behind everyone on the inter. So not expecting any more rain. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 51/57 ANT: 2’12.971 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So the Safety Car will be in this lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So HPP 12, position one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | You sure? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | You can keep it if you think you need it. Yeah, set it to two, that’ll be fine. So there’ll be six laps remaining when you cross the line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So strat mode five, strat mode five and focus on this restart. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So gap 1.0 ahead, 2.1 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 52/57 ANT: 1’35.008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And wind is getting gusty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And it’ll be four laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Nice job”
By pitting for intermediates before others, Antonelli moved up to fifth place. After the final restart he gained another position by passing Alexander Albon.
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| Lap: 54/57 ANT: 1’30.562 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli closes on Albon DRS has been enabled, gap ahead 0.5. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 55/57 ANT: 1’30.602 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And you do have overtake available. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 56/57 ANT: 1’28.149 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | You’ve got two laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi just remember to pull back the entry for better exits. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli passes Albon on the outside heading into turn nine Yes, mate. Nice job. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | One more lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 57/57 ANT: 1’28.650 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Use overtake on this straight, we’ll keep pushing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Keep pushing to the line, mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“You are the only rookie that kept it on the road”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff came on Antonelli’s radio at the end of the race to congratulate him on a successful debut.
Several laps earlier the stewards had issued a five-second time penalty to Antonelli. Mercedes did not distract him with the information during the race and waited until afterwards to let him know.
However after the race finished Mercedes successfully petitioned the stewards to cancel Antonelli’s penalty. He was therefore restored to a superb fourth place on his debut.
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Nice work, Kimi. That was a great drive. That’s P4 on the road. Unfortunately they’ve given us a five-second penalty so it’s bumped us to P5. Five-second penalty was an unsafe release but you did a great job today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Oh man, fuck, that was close. Woah, what a race! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, mega, mega job today, mate. Not bad for your first go. And yeah, some of those overtakes were pretty sweet. Can you go strat mode 14 and then HPP one, position 12. And we’ll go strat mode one, strat mode one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wolff | Kimi first one. Really really good. Really really good, what a result. You are the only rookie that kept it on the road and we ended up with a P5, that’s mega. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Thank you Toto, thanks everyone, it was a good weekend, thank you everyone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah it’s a good first crack, mate. Into the pit lane and then just pull up where they direct you to. Top three cars will go down the end. And then when you get out of the car, switch the engine off and then switch P1 off as well. We’ll see you in a bit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team radio transcripts
- “Are the others struggling?” How Hamilton ended up half a minute behind Leclerc in Jeddah
- ‘You’re the effective leader’: Full radio from Piastri and Verstappen’s Jeddah tussle
- “Don’t give me too much now”: Hamilton’s search for speed at Ferrari continues
- “What the hell have you done?” Leclerc shocked by his DRS opening at turn 12
- “Oh my God that was difficult”: Full radio from Verstappen’s luckless Bahrain GP
2025 Australian Grand Prix
- Contact with team mate may have led to Bortoleto’s Australian GP crash
- Hamilton dismisses ‘negativity’ over his radio calls. ‘Other drivers are almost abusive’
- Antonelli “got really scared” when he made “big save” on first lap of Australian GP
- Williams explain role played by car’s systems in Sainz’s race-ending crash
- Norris is only driver besides Verstappen to win back-to-back races since 2021
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
18th March 2025, 12:34
Didn’t he spin a handful of times?
David
18th March 2025, 13:26
Exactly. He did make mistakes, but got away with them. Misleading headline. However his late race form was excellent, 4th place was well deserved.
S Arkazam
18th March 2025, 15:04
It was however a direct quote from Wolff, who is often as true to the facts as an average DtS episode.
PitifulExcuse (@pitifulexcuse)
18th March 2025, 21:55
But he did keep it on the road. Just not always facing in the right direction.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 1:24
Doing a 360 without bad consequences is actually a proof of skill, verstappen did it multiple times and always got away with it, ever since brazil 2016.
MacLeod (@macleod)
19th March 2025, 8:01
@esploratore1 but in 2016 Brasil Max did only a 90 …. but had several perfect 360’s in the years later which had no influence… :)
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
18th March 2025, 13:38
I think that’s a bit extreme for his first qualifying session. Hopefully his career can still recover.
Elgsdyr
18th March 2025, 14:37
Nope, if you don’t perform perfectly in your first ever F1 qualifying session, your career is definitively over. That’s it! 😆 /jk of course… 😉
But yeah, that quote was a bit odd, to say the least.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
18th March 2025, 18:09
It made me chuckle, presumably another example of autocomplete thinking it knows best. “damaging his car” was the intended statement, I imagine…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 1:26
True, but no matter what, found it fun! I’d say he redeemed himself in the race.
David
18th March 2025, 14:41
If Kimi’s career is damaged from his performance in qualifying, I’d hate to be bearman, hadjar, doohan, lawson, borteleto or even that surprise rookie, alonso!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 1:28
Ahah, that’s also a good one, they had a lot worse in the race!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
19th March 2025, 6:58
Sorry for this error. The text was supposed to say ‘car’!
bosyber (@bosyber)
19th March 2025, 8:05
LOL, autocorrect issue then @keithcollantine, yeah car makes sense :)
auskpylate
18th March 2025, 13:45
Bro, I’m so tired of this nonsense. He was lucky because he did not end up in the wall after many spins. He was just like the other rookies, but he escaped because of luck.
Stop overhyping this kid; he was not even the F2 champ.
albo94
19th March 2025, 8:38
“Many spins????”
thegamer23
19th March 2025, 10:36
Pretty much everyone did a mistake in Melbourne, including the McLaren drivers and Verstappen, so i’m not sure what’s the point.
Antonelli race was incredible for a rookie, that’s plain to see.
Actarus
19th March 2025, 14:17
BE CAREFUL bro! This is how haters are born! You don’t wanna be the ancestor of Kimi’s all future haters.
BenjaminS (@benihana)
18th March 2025, 13:47
Really great info here, even in comparison to Hamilton’s radio yesterday. It would be great to see how these messages in race 1 compare to race 24.
Ideals (@ideals)
18th March 2025, 13:58
I appreciate a boss’s job is to keep his employees motivated.
But Kimi had a spin and did not keep it on the road, the only reason he’s the only rookie to make it to the end is because his spin happened to be in a place with enough run off to not end up in a wall. I wouldn’t be claiming the rookie crown just yet. He had a decent race and a bad qualifying, the weather and a bit of fortune helped him get a good result. We’ll see how it goes in the next few races when things are bit more normal for everyone.
Marcus (@marcusw)
18th March 2025, 14:03
It seems to me that the information from Bonno is generally more concise and clearer than that from Adami that Hamilton is now having to get a accustomed to. Kimi said comparatively little in reply to Bonno. Definitely instilled confidence in his abilities despite the errors, which thankfully for him had relatively little consequence. He will no doubt get more controlled and consistent as he properly settles in, and is clearly one to watch for the future.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 14:43
I’m glad it’s played out like this. Now we can appreciate it wasn’t all Hamilton’s skill, when say he got 3rd in 2023.
It was only us Ferrari fans who knew that 3rd place should’ve been a Ferrari.
3rd in the constructors was certainly thrown away.
Anyway benvenuto in Lewis
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 14:31
“Hamilton needs to get used to a new car” – the pundits and fans claim
Meanwhile the 7 time champion gets totally outshone by a rookie in his first F1 race
grat
18th March 2025, 14:37
Yeah, but so did the 7 time world champion’s teammate who by all accounts should be wiping the floor with Hamilton.
IPBA
18th March 2025, 14:57
Any chance to pull someone down and you you don’t miss. Can you remind us please how many times Kimi has driven the Merc prior to his debut and also how many times he drove it in the sim and became familiar with the car/controls/setup etc.? Now compare that to Lewis who has entered a new team which uses a totally different powertrain and tools. Italian is there primary language and the whole setup is alien to Lewis. All this needs learning. Why don’t you write to Fred and ask him to move Lewis aside, you step in and show him how it is done? You seem to be very good at it from your armchair.
Mach1 (@mach1)
18th March 2025, 21:06
” Italian is there primary language”
This is actually untrue. Yes it is an Italian team, based in Italy where Italian is indeed the primary language.
But the primary language of the team in everyday operation and communication is English. Vasseur, the team principal does not speak Italian nor do many of the team.
It may have it’s roots in Italian culture. But this isn’t the 1970s any more. It’s not some kind of alien environment that Brits struggle to operate in.
The general culture may be a different, but it’s a professional racing team, and people making out that is is some kind of complete culture shock of a workplace are being disingenuous.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 1:57
True, for example the engineers always talk in english, they must know it a bit.
Amonymous
19th March 2025, 5:53
But when Hamilton as a rookie had all these advantages over Alonso, he was the king of rookies and showed Alonso in equal machinery and ladida. -_-
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
18th March 2025, 15:49
To say he’s “The only Rookie to keep it on the road” is correct if you mean he didn’t bin the car and could finish the race.
On Hamilton Vs. Kimi, both finished the race where many (experienced and otherwise) could not and both in new machinery. Hamilton suffered from a a bad strategy call, staying out on the slicks. Not much more you can read into the situation than that. I would say an excellent first drive for both.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 2:02
I wouldn’t say excellent, hamilton’s famous wet weather flair didn’t come out this race, just like in brazil, he didn’t overtake anyone with a decent car, aside from people who spun out.
stefano (@alfa145)
18th March 2025, 15:57
The amount of comments not realizing that spinning where there is runoff compared to where there isn’t, is not just a matter of luck or chance… he went a bit over the limit and spun where there was enough room for error. And got away with it, indeed. It’s not casual
Applebook
18th March 2025, 18:21
He went over the limit? No he didn’t. He made a rookie mistake. He wasn’t carrying too much speed into a corner or outbraking himself, but simply touched the grass on entry. It was a silly mistake. He still drove a fine race though and deserves praise.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
18th March 2025, 19:46
Do you think he pushed harder in that area because he knew he wouldn’t end up in the wall?
stefano (@alfa145)
22nd March 2025, 13:58
that’s my point. Addressing the other comment, even touching grass is going over the limits, only in terms of track position, rather than breaking point, or speed entry. You never take this chance in Monaco. You indulge in trying harder where there’s a wide margin. You do this yourself, if you’ve ever done some track driving
HW Small
18th March 2025, 18:20
I can imagine George being told Kimi is faster before the end of this season…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
19th March 2025, 2:10
Ahah, I was thinking about some sentence raikkonen used to use, it’s taken out of context, but he could’ve said: “fernando is faster than you”, “yeah, yeah, you don’t have to tell me every second!”, that could also be russell’s reaction, but we’ll see, first he has to do a lot better in quali, then they will be in a position to race each other.
Patrick (@paeschli)
19th March 2025, 6:20
Didn’t Bearman bring it home as well?