Kimi Antonelli suffered a heartbreaking crash at the Parabolica just 10 minutes into his first-ever practice session, bringing out the red flag and wrecking George Russell’s car.

The 18-year-old was making his Grand Prix weekend debut with an announcement of a full-time drive next season expected at some point before Sunday, but things went awry quickly after FP1 went green.

Antonelli initially looked comfortable. The Italian set the early benchmark, popping up at the top of the timing screens after setting the fastest lap on his initial run.

Things unravelled on his second attempt though. The Italian was putting together another strong lap but lost control at the Parabolica, spinning off into the barriers at high speed.

The crash was a heavy one and caused significant damage to Russell’s W15. Despite the inconvenience, team principal Toto Wolff was quick to jump on the radio and reassure his driver, stating: “All good Kimi. All good.”

There was a concerned look on Russell’s face in the garage after the shunt. The Mercedes engineers now face a tough battle to get that machine ready to take part in FP2 later on Friday.

Mistakes like that are natural for young drivers though, and Lewis Hamilton made it clear ahead of the weekend that it would be a steep learning curve for the teenager.

“For Kimi tomorrow it’s about enjoying yourself and having fun,” he said. “This is going to be an amazing experience for him. He’s obviously already tested the old car, but tomorrow is going to be the first time I believe he’s tested the new car, which is so much nicer than the 2022 car.

“He’s going to be all smiles tomorrow, for sure, it’s a drastic difference! And the more information and the more input we get the better. I don’t know what to expect [with] what he’s going to come back with, but we’ll definitely take it in.”