by George Russell confirmed two rookie runs per car for the 2025 F1 season and called on the FIA to exclude them from the cost cap after Kimi Antonelli wrecked his W14 at Monza.
Antonelli, who completed one of Mercedes’ junior driver assignments in the 2024 season, was behind the wheel of Russell’s Mercedes during the opening practice session of the Italian Grand Prix.
Should compulsory trips for young drivers be included in the cap?
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
But while the Italian showed impressive pace and drove fastest on his first flying lap, he gave off too much pressure on the second lap and lost control of the car.
The 18-year-old lost the rear end of the W14 due to the high-speed parabola, spun into the gravel trap and crashed into the guard rails with an impact of 52 G.
Russell was forced to miss the first few minutes of FP2 as Mercedes worked to repair his car.
Antonelli recently admitted to Sky F1: “[Russell] I wasn’t very happy, but before I went to Parabolica I was strong.
“I have a good relationship with George, he hasn’t given me much advice, but everything is fine at the moment.”
The 2025 Mercedes driver will be back in the car in FP1 in Mexico and Russell says that while it’s great that the youngsters are getting the chance, their antics should perhaps be kept out of Formula 1’s cost cap.
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“For FP1, I think it’s great to give the youngsters the opportunity, but if there is an accident claim, maybe it shouldn’t be within the cost cap,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com Austin.
“You know, the thing is, we are very close to breaking financial regulations. If a young driver were to damage the car then perhaps that should be dealt with separately.”
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admitted after Antonelli’s accident that his Monza shunt is most likely only his first in Formula 1.
“These moments will happen and they will happen next year too, but there will also be a lot of highlights,” he said.
“I think what we saw today was that we have more of a problem slowing him down than making him faster, because what we saw after a lap and a half is amazing.”
F1 regulations state that in accordance with Article 32.4 (c) of the sporting regulations, each team must surrender a car on two separate occasions in order for a junior driver to take part in a Friday practice session. Usually teams decide to do this in the first practice session when the track is not representative and therefore not usable for the normal driver.
“On one (1) occasion during the Championship, each competitor must field for each car entered for the Championship a driver who has not competed in more than two (2) Championship races in his career,” the rule states.
“Each participant must provide the FIA with the details of the driver he will use in writing seven days before the start of the relevant competition.”
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