Will Andrea Kimi Antonelli start his home race in Italy soon with a grid penalty? That is the question Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is currently struggling with. The young driver is already at the limit for four engine components before a grid penalty is handed out. ‘On paper, Monza seems like a good place to take an engine penalty,’ Wolff says.
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli is already at the limit for the number of used combustion engines, exhaust sets, energy stores, and control electronics. The young championship leader may still use one extra turbocharger and MGU-K unit but must take a grid penalty if he exceeds the limit of any of the other engine components. Usually, teams choose to have their driver serve such a grid penalty at a circuit where overtaking is easier. Unfortunately for Kimi Antonelli, that could well be his home race in Italy.
“Regarding engine penalties, I still very much hope we don’t have to take them,” team principal Toto Wolff told various media. “But if that is the case, we have to decide when that happens and at which circuit. It could happen during a race that is very special for Kimi, but on paper, it seems like a good place to take an engine penalty. We need to discuss with Marco (Antonelli, Kimi’s father, ed.) whether we want to take an engine penalty in Monza.”
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‘Or Baku’
Wolff then immediately tried to reassure the young Mercedes driver. “But Baku is also an option,” he added. “Or we take the pressure off in Monza by starting at the back! It’s just that our reliability simply hasn’t been good, and whether we take a penalty or not, we will see.” Whether Kimi Antonelli will have to take a grid penalty for new engine components anyway remains a question. Mercedes can also choose to keep rotating between previously used power unit parts.
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