Kimi Antonelli escaped unharmed after experiencing a nasty crash in practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old lost control of his Mercedes car at turn one, driving over the car and spinning violently into the wall before being launched back onto the circuit.
Antonelli stated he was “OK” but the medical car was deployed, given the shunt was bigger than 25G.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff winced in the garage as he witnessed the crash unfold.
The Italian teenager returned to the garage, immediately analysing the data of the crash with race engineer Peter Bonnington.
With just over two hours until qualifying, it remains to be seen whether the car will fixed in time for the first battle for pole position of the season.
Antonelli is one of the favourites for the title this season, with Mercedes seen to be the frontrunners as F1 enters a new era of engine and chassis regulations. His teammate George Russell is the bookies favourite.
Russell set the fastest time in FP3, 0.616 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in second with Charles Leclerc in third.
