Antonelli explains the obstacle of 'Killer' for the F1 Debüter result

Kimi Antonelli explained the tricky conditions that he survived during his F1 debut in the Australian Grand Prix of season openings in 2025.

The Mercedes driver recovered from P16 online to make fourth place in Melbourne and prevailed, while many of his rookie colleagues found the walls in Albert Park.

He was not immune to mistakes, had a considerable shoot in curve 4, but it was good to keep the barriers away, similar to teammate George Russell during training.

The young Italian detailed his adventurous first Grand Prix and emphasized the “Killer” parts that Isack Hadjar and Jack Doohan caught in the opening phase of the race – and Liam Lawson later.

“Today we all have the worst conditions for a first race,” Antonelli told the media, including Racingnews365.

“We have wet, slicks on damp, slicks on wet and then back. So definitely really, very eventful race, but really satisfied with how it was managed by my side and by the team.

“Of course I made a few mistakes, especially the shoot, but the conditions were great, super difficult – these white lines were also a murderer.

“But really happy. The team really helped me during the race and made the right calls. I definitely can't complain today.”

Rejected punishment

Towards the end of the race, Antonelli received a time penalty of five seconds. It dropped him to fifth place behind Albons Williams.

However, Mercedes has submitted a legal right to rethink their decision, which they were immediately done and then reversed.

However, Antonelli was not aware of the sanction for an unsafe release in the box during the race.

“I didn't really know that I had the penalty,” said the 18-year-old before the stewards overturned their judgment after the protest from Mercedes.

“I only knew that the team told me that I should continue to gave up in the last round.”