Antonelli explains 'no fear' moment that brought him back from F1 brink

Kimi Antonelli has explained the massive mental shift that took place following his "no fear" 2024 practice crash in Italy.

Deputising for George Russell in FP1 at Monza, Antonelli crashed hard at the Parabolica on just his second lap of the session - leaving the car looking like a box of "Lego", in the words of boss Toto Wolff.

The 18-year-old protege was announced as Lewis Hamilton's replacement the following day, with Antonelli making his F1 debut with a stunning run to fourth place in the wild Australian GP, having started 16th after sustaining car damage in qualifying. 

Antonelli pulled off clean overtakes on Nico Hulkenberg and put a brave move on Alex Albon around the outside of the fast Turn 9 in the rain as he climbed through the field, with the Italian explaining how the Monza smash had led to a reset of his "no fear" approach.

"Monza really was a terrible moment for me as a driver, but I think you learn," Antonelli told media including RacingNews365. 

"I learned a lot from it, and I think I changed a lot as a person, but also a driver in terms of approach from that weekend. 

"Because I am not going to lie, when I went into FP1 at Monza, I was pushing, I was feeling free to push and had no fear, it was a Q3 lap, qualifying on the absolute limit and not caring about anything else, it was pure pushing.

"But I learned after that, especially some of the conditions as FP1 in Monza, the track is super dirty, was super slippery, that it is better to take a step back and it is better to push progressively and build the session.

"But when such a mistake happens, you take a lot more steps back than what you would make forward, so definitely I changed a lot and my approach changed a lot.

"Of course the tendency is trying to go out on track and find the limit, but in a smarter way."