Full radio from Antonelli’s superb F1 debut · RaceFans

The youngest driver on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix faced high expectations as well as difficult conditions on his debut.

Mercedes had nurtured Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s career for years. But while his team mate George Russell got to make his Formula 1 debut in the relatively low-pressure environment of Williams, Antonelli was thrust straight into the top team, in the seat previously occupied by no less a talent than Lewis Hamilton.

Thrust into the spotlight, Antonelli stumbled in qualifying, damaging his career and dropping out in Q1. That left him near the back of the grid.

The foul conditions which greeted the teams on Sunday, after 48 hours of fine weather, were hardly ideal for Antonelli or any of the other rookies. However he had the benefit of a long testing programme in Mercedes’ F1 cars, some of which took place in similarly wet conditions.

Antonelli was well prepared, and though his race wasn’t flawless, he produced a superb drive to finish fourth. Here’s how he did it.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Australian Grand Prix radio transcript

Jump to:

“Right-hand side?”
“I had a moment”
“Hulkenberg is doing burn-outs into the pit lane”
“I like that”
“That was a wheel on the grass”
“Has DRS been disabled?”
“Alonso crashed”
“Do you think we can have HPP 12?”
“Take it easy in this restart”
“Mate, he’s defending!”
“I didn’t press it”
“Nice job”
“You are the only rookie that kept it on the road”

“Right-hand side?”

Antonelli lined up 16th on the grid, having been eliminated from qualifying the day before. The original attempt to start the race was abandoned after Isack Hadjar crashed.

Ahead of the second attempt to start the race, Bonnington reminded Antonelli there would be some empty spots on the grid, and to be sure to line up in the correct one. Antonelli spotted his mistake in identifying which side of the grid he should start from.

“I had a moment”

When the race finally started, Jack Doohan lost control of his car at the exit of turn five and crashed out. Antonelli came very close to making the same error, catching a huge slide as he accelerated out of the corner.

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“Hulkenberg is doing burn-outs into the pit lane”

Although Antonelli was now up to 13th he had lost a position to Nico Hulkenberg. He suspected the Sauber driver had broken a rule in the pit lane, and advised his team, but his rival was not investigated.

“I like that”

Antonelli made some progress once the race restarted, passing Hulkenberg.

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“That was a wheel on the grass”

However soon afterwards he spun off at turn four and fell back behind Hulkenberg. Bonnington made sure he understood his error.

“Has DRS been disabled?”

Antonelli regained his position from Hulkenberg and passed Lance Stroll as well, leaving him one place outside the points. Next he applied pressure to the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, spending several laps within DRS range, then slipping back slightly.

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“Alonso crashed”

Alonso pulled two seconds clear of Antonelli, then crashed heavily at the exit of turn six. This triggered a Safety Car deployment which Mercedes, like their rivals, reacted to immediately by bringing their driver in for slick tyres.

“Do you think we can have HPP 12?”

In his first race, Antonelli appeared confident enough with Mercedes’ systems to suggest switch changes before Bonnington advised him to make them.

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“Take it easy in this restart”

As drivers prepared for the restart on slick tyres, Bonnington reminded Antonelli not to repeat his earlier error. Shortly afterwards the rain returned, Antonelli passed Leclerc’s spun Ferrari and immediately headed back into the pits for intermediates.

“Mate, he’s defending!”

Antonelli repassed Stroll, then caught Oliver Bearman, now driving for Haas, who was a lap down. To Antonelli’s frustration Bearman moved towards the inside line as he gained on him approaching turn three.

“I didn’t press it”

There was some brief confusion when Bonnington saw a ‘pit confirm’ signal from Antonelli’s car when he was not supposed to come in.

“Nice job”

By pitting for intermediates before others, Antonelli moved up to fifth place. After the final restart he gained another position by passing Alexander Albon.

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“You are the only rookie that kept it on the road”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff came on Antonelli’s radio at the end of the race to congratulate him on a successful debut.

Several laps earlier the stewards had issued a five-second time penalty to Antonelli. Mercedes did not distract him with the information during the race and waited until afterwards to let him know.

However after the race finished Mercedes successfully petitioned the stewards to cancel Antonelli’s penalty. He was therefore restored to a superb fourth place on his debut.