Kimi Antonelli spotted wearing hand brace in Shanghai after Melbourne crash

Kimi Antonelli was spotted wearing a brace on his left hand on arrival at the Shanghai circuit, which PlanetF1.com understands is a precautionary measure following his Australian Grand Prix crash.

Antonelli crashed heavily in final practice at the Albert Park Circuit, with on-board footage showing he kept his hands on the steering wheel in the initial impact.

Kimi Antonelli seen wearing hand brace in Shanghai

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The Mercedes driver lost control of his W17 at Turn One when he touched the kerb and went spinning violently into the wall before being launched back onto the circuit.

Antonelli stated he was “okay” but the medical car was deployed as the crash recorded a G-Force of more than 25G.

Mercedes managed to repair his car in the nick of time for Q1 where Antonelli qualified second behind George Russell before finishing P2 to his teammate in the grand prix.

“He’s literally learning it the hard way, which makes him stronger,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media in Melbourne.

“He was very, very strong on Friday and his pace on Saturday was there. But then the accident happened, and that can happen.”

Antonelli wasn’t given much time to recover from the crash with the Chinese Grand Prix back-to-back with Melbourne.

The 19-year-old was spotted in the Shanghai paddock on Thursday sporting strapping around his left hand.

Mercedes told PlanetF1.com the brace is ‘a precaution following the Melbourne crash.’

Antonelli called his crash a “big kick in the butt”, but didn’t comment on his wrist when he spoke with the media in Shanghai.

“It didn’t go as smoothly as hoped, obviously, with the crash end of FP3,” he said.

“I had a really good confidence up until that moment and then, of course, the crash kind of is like big kick in the butt and kind of lowers your confidence.

“But then going into qualifying, he mechanic did incredible, and I just tried to make the best out of it. And, yeah, and then the race, obviously with a bad start, with the issue we had as well, was not ideal, because I lost a lot of time.

“But then, you know, pace was, was strong, and was, was able to come back. Unfortunately, not enough.”

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