Fans react to Toto Wolff’s team radio message after Kimi Antonelli suffered huge crash in first F1 practice session. George Russell disappointed

Fans are all praising Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, for his radio message to Kimi Antonelli following his debut crash at the Italian GP.

The 18-year-old, who is widely expected to be announced as the successor to Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows for 2025 tomorrow, took over George Russell’s car during free practice in Monza.

The highly-rated teenager started the session in fine style as he flew to the top of the standings on his first-ever official lap in a Formula 1 car.

However, things took a significant turn for the worst on his sixth lap of the session where he went flying off track at the high-speed corner of Parabolica.

Despite a huge impact to the barriers at well over 100mph the Italian teenager quickly got out of the cockpit unharmed, but the same can’t be said for George Russell’s car which Antonelli was borrowing for the session.

Russell will be hoping the Mercedes mechanics can have his car ready for the second practice session this afternoon.

Following Antonelli’s shunt the teenager came on the radio and issued an X-rated apology to the team as he was clearly furious with himself for ruining his debut session.

However, Wolff quickly chimed in on Antonelli’s radio to reassure his academy driver.

“It’s all good Kimi, all good,” he said in an uncharacteristically calm tone.

Following the incident, fans have taken to social media to praise the Mercedes boss for how he handled himself towards Antonelli.

One fan said: “It’s like when your kid falls and you pick them up and tell them it’s okay so they don’t cry.”

Another added: “Toto is a class act. No need to berate the kid.”

A third commented: “Very classy, he knows more than us with all of the tests they have done with the kid but it wasn’t ideal for him to crash 10 minutes into the session.”

Given the pressure on Antonelli to succeed in F1, the Austrian had to be very careful how he reacted, especially considering Monza is his home Grand Prix.

One fan noted: “I can imagine the pressure. Feel like next season we’ll get a real first impression. Probably not an easy track to debut at.”