Autobayng News Team
Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli received some mid-race encouragement from team principal Toto Wolff during the Italian Grand Prix.
Wolff came on Antonelli’s radio to spur him on after he made a crucial pass on Yuki Tsunoda for ninth place.
“Very good Kimi, get them!” Wolff told his driver after he out-braked the Red Bull at the Rettifilo chicane on lap 18. The message was not played on F1’s world feed.
Antonelli’s pass allowed him to get within range of Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of him. While Alonso dropped out with suspension failure, Antonelli got ahead of Bortoleto by pitting later than the Sauber driver.
However he was unable to prevent Alexander Albon from passing him after the Williams driver made his pit stop. Antonelli also collected a five-second penalty for “erratic driving” as he forced the Williams driver off at the exit of the Rettifilo. That dropped him back behind Bortoleto in the final classification, though he scored his best result of the last six rounds with ninth place.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Selected messages from Antonelli’s radio
Antonelli made his pass on Tsunoda after the Red Bull driver briefly fell out of range of the cars ahead. Wolff and race engineer Peter Bonnington praised his move.
| Lap: 18/53 ANT: 1’23.979 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Five ahead and behind. Overtake still available. He passes Tsunoda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Overtake to defend. Nice work Kimi, so gap 1.0 behind, you’ve got 1.8 ahead, so let’s get the brakes under control, let’s chase Alonso, put Bortoleto down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap 1.9 ahead, 0.8 behind. Alonso, Bortoletto doing 24.2 ahead of them Lewis, 23.7. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 19/53 ANT: 1’23.940 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wolff | Very good Kimi, get them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Bearman has pitted, currently 2.8 safe to him. Gap 1.7 ahead, 1.4 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 20/53 ANT: 1’23.746 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Tsunoda in. Just keep your head down Kimi, let’s have the pace you’ve got. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 21/53 ANT: 1’23.688 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It’s very low deg. Target lap on Plan A, so still Plan A target lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 22/53 ANT: 1’23.295 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Update on pace. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Stand by, waiting for Alonso to complete. All those cars that have pitted are sat right on our pit window. Main loss last lap was turn eight, min speed, that’s to George. George doing 23.4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
As he approached his pit stop, Antonelli lost time by running off the track at Rettifilo.
| Lap: 25/53 ANT: 1’23.449 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi just update us on tyres, update your tyre switch. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So it looks like Alonso is retiring with suspension failure, so Bortoleto is now our focus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 26/53 ANT: 1’24.699 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | He goes too deep at Rettifilo and cuts across the run-off Shit! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi, be proactive with your b-bal, got that turn one, turn four. Still safe to Bortoleto by 2.3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 27/53 ANT: 1’23.700 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Front-left is very weak. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. Kimi, have you got one more lap in you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Approaching Parabolica How safe are we? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Say again, say again? Still safe, still safe. Staying out, still safe, two seconds. Just need to avoid the mistake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After pitting, Antonelli recovered to ninth place, but came under attack from Albon who had newer and softer tyres on his Williams:
| Lap: 41/53 ANT: 1’22.503 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Albon may be in this lap, only one second safe to him. Albon in pit lane now. Overtake is available. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/53 ANT: 1’22.255 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | 12 laps remaining, Kimi, just head down, focus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 43/53 ANT: 1’22.322 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | George a 21.9, gap behind 0.6. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap 0.4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/53 ANT: 1’23.848 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap 0.4. Antonelli squeezes Albon at the exit of Rettifilo but the Williams passes him at Roggia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 45/53 ANT: 1’22.651 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay gap 1.2 ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Mercedes warned Antonelli he was at risk of being penalised for his driving while trying to keep Albon behind:
| Lap: 47/53 ANT: 1’22.327 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Seven laps remaining Kimi, let’s have everything you’ve got. So we’re under investigation for forcing Albon off-track. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | George four tenths faster from turn four exit turn seven, min speed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 48/53 ANT: 1’22.201 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | I can’t slide the front. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So drop the lift-and-coast and work on peak pressure. And you go forward with b-bal two percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 49/53 ANT: 1’22.174 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Five laps remaining. You can use diff magic turn four to help slide the front. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 50/53 ANT: 1’21.997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Still losses turn seven and turn 11, exit 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Antonelli took the chequered flag in eighth place, though as Bonnington pointed out the penalty dropped him back to ninth. The driver apologised to his team:
| Lap: 53/53 ANT: 1’21.968 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi one more lap. We’ve just been given a five second penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | What for? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Got overtake available so you can use it. Still have overtake available. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | He takes the chequered flag Kimi so with that penalty, that drops us down to P9. So that was for [not] leaving a car’s width, Albon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | If you can go HPP 1 position 12 and strat 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, sorry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2025 Italian Grand Prix
- 2025 Italian Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
- “Very good Kimi, get them!”: Wolff’s unheard mid-race encouragement to Antonelli
- Stroll’s 16-second pit stop caused by slow tyre change and traffic light failure
- Verstappen praises Mekies’ “common sense” approach after dominant win
- How Williams’ team orders unleashed Albon’s front-running pace: Race data
