Mercedes admit simulator glitch hampered Antonelli’s F1 prep

Mercedes have revealed that a costly simulator failure at their Brackley headquarters disrupted Kimi Antonelli’s build-up to recent races, adding to the pressure on the teenage rookie as he adapts to life in Formula 1.

Antonelli endured a bruising run in the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix – colliding with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc en route to 16th at Zandvoort and then struggling to ninth on home soil in Monza.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin conceded the team hadn’t given their young driver the preparation he needed.

“With Zandvoort, he came in for a simulator session, and we had some issues that meant he wasn’t really able to do the prep there,” Shovlin explained.

“He then makes a mistake in FP1. Well, I think we need to own a bit of that responsibility and that we couldn’t do the normal prep.”

Wolff Acknowledges “Really Good” Baku Rebound

After a full and trouble-free simulator session before Azerbaijan, Antonelli bounced back with a strong fourth place in Baku – his best result since Canada back in June.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised the recovery after what he had earlier described as an “underwhelming” Monza outing.

“It was a really good rebound after Monza,” Wolff said. “He had such a difficult spell with the European races and, coming in here with a solid P4, running in the front group, that’s something to continue to build on and consolidate.

“I think we always speak very openly with each other. There’s no such thing as holding back. For himself, he was not meeting his own expectations with what happened in Monza, and the driving just wasn’t how he had expected it to be, or how he wanted it to be.

“Here, maybe there was a bit missing in ultimate performance that maybe made the difference between a podium and not, but such a good consolidation in my opinion; it was important to score that result.”

• Read also: Russell admits illness would have ruled out racing in Singapore

Antonelli’s Baku points finish, combined with George Russell’s run to second place, helped Mercedes vault Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

The Brackley squad now sit second on 290 points, four clear of Ferrari, with Red Bull a further 14 behind in fourth.

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