kimi antonelli suffered a late setback in final practice for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, crashing into the barriers at Turn Two and leaving Mercedes with significant repair work to complete before qualifying later today.
What Happens When Kimi Antonelli’s practice ends in the barriers?
Final practice began after a delayed start caused by barrier repair, but the session’s focus swung sharply to Mercedes when Kimi Antonelli ran over a kerb on the exit of Turn Two and crashed into the barriers. He was fourth fastest before the incident.
After the crash, Kimi Antonelli made his way straight to his race engineer and began looking at the data to understand what went wrong. The incident unfolded with qualifying drawing closer, sharpening the consequences of lost track time and the pressure on the garage.
What If Mercedes has pace, but can’t convert it into qualifying?
On outright speed, Mercedes still left a major impression in the closing moments of the session. George Russell set the fastest lap at the end of a hectic final practice, opening a large gap to second-placed Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari. The late benchmark suggested a high ceiling for the car’s performance, even as the team faced the immediate task of repairing crash damage on the other side of the garage.
Former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley, speaking on Radio 5 Sports Extra, emphasized the scale of the work ahead for Mercedes, describing severe rear-end damage and front suspension issues. Priestley also noted these are brand new components and raised the possibility that the team may not have a full quantity of spares at this early stage of the season. With the session disrupted by a red flag and time ticking down, the crash reduced opportunities for Mercedes to run through additional checks in representative conditions.
What Happens Next with qualifying hours away?
With final practice completed and teams immediately turning to qualifying preparation, the central question for Mercedes is time: how quickly the car can be rebuilt and validated before the next session begins. Qualifying is scheduled for 05: 00 GMT, and Mercedes will be working to have the car ready in time.
Elsewhere in the session, Charles Leclerc was cited as the fastest driver at one stage with a lap time of 1: 19. 827, while Oscar Piastri was also noted as fastest during final practice. But the late-session benchmark from Russell, combined with the damage to Kimi Antonelli’s car, set up a split picture for Mercedes—headline pace on one hand, and an urgent repair job on the other.
The immediate next phase is straightforward: rebuild, check, and send the car back out under qualifying conditions, with the team balancing speed potential against the risks that come with a compressed timetable after a heavy crash.
