Mercedes set fresh target for 'embarrassed' Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli must put his grid penalty at the British Grand Prix "to the back of his mind", according to Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.

The young Italian will start the race at Silverstone three places lower than he qualifies, as punishment for his first-lap crash at the preceding Austrian Grand Prix.

After failing to change the brake settings on his W16 heading into the third corner, Antonelli locked up and went slamming into Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen.

Whilst the New Zealander was able to continue, the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers were instantly forced into retirement.

Deemed at fault for the incident after his error, Antonelli was subsequently penalised by the stewards after the race at the Red Bull Ring.

However, the British engineer highlighted how crucial setting that aside will be for the Mercedes driver.

Nonetheless, Shovlin is unconcerned about the long-term impact on the Brackley-based squad's driver, despite conceding the 18-year-old was "very disappointed" and "embarrassed" by the episode.

"Kimi will be fine," he said in the eight-time constructors' champion's post-Spielberg debrief. "He was very disappointed after the race and embarrassed to have made a mistake that ultimately took Max out as well.

"Now he’ll get a penalty for that. He held his hand up. He wasn’t pretending it was anyone else’s fault.

"He’s got that grid penalty in Silverstone, but he’s going to have to put that to the back of his mind and just focus on qualifying as far up the grid as possible, getting the car set up for qualifying, getting it set up for the race."

Antonelli has put together a strong debut campaign in F1, including a sprint pole in Miami and a podium at the Canadian Grand Prix.

11 rounds into the schedule, he has scored 63 points, and Shovlin expects him to "bounce back strong" after his mistake in Styria.

"But he’ll be over that by now," the 51-year-old said. "He’s fully focused on the next event.

"He’ll be in with Bono [race engineer Pete Bonnington] and the engineering team working on the setup in preparation. And I’m sure that he’ll bounce back strong."