Mercedes admits Monza grid penalty regret before Kimi Antonelli faces same fate

Kimi Antonelli is taking a grid penalty at Monza, despite Mercedes admitting that it has regretted choosing to take penalties at the Italian GP in the past.

The championship leader is set to start from the back of the grid at Monza next weekend, with Mercedes fitting him with a full new power unit that is outside of the permitted allowances.

Kimi Antonelli’s Monza grid penalty explained by Mercedes

Antonelli has already reached most of the maximum number of permitted parts of the power unit, despite F1 only just being past the halfway point of the season.

Drivers are permitted a pool of components for the season, with the Italian driver having used four internal combustion engines, four exhausts, three energy stores (battery) and three control electronics – meaning he’s hit the permitted limits for these components. He still has one allowance for the turbocharger and MGU-K.

However, the tactical introduction of the parts Mercedes wish to introduce to Antonelli’s pool means that the Italian is expected to start from the back of the grid at Monza, meaning the championship leader faces a stern challenge to take a joyful home victory in front of his fans.

It’s unfortunate timing for Antonelli, given his home race will be so compromised, but the logic behind the decision is clear: Monza is a track at which overtaking is ostensibly easy, meaning the penalty impact can be reduced. This is in contrast to circuits such as the unknown Madring, or the likes of Baku or Malaysia – circuits where overtaking is possible, but it’s also possible for the leading driver to defend.

Mercedes needs the additional components as a consequence of reliability issues earlier in the year, with the Brixworth-based manufacturer having struggled with some battery issues that affected both drivers: Antonelli retiring late in the Spanish Grand Prix, and George Russell while leading midway through the Canadian Grand Prix.

“For Monza, we expect [Kimi] to start from the back,” Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord said on the Nu Silver Arrows radio show.

“George is also likely to require an additional set of hardware at some stage. That is the legacy of the reliability problems earlier in the season.”

Antonelli will be the first Mercedes driver in four years to take a grid penalty at Monza, with Lewis Hamilton having started from P19 in 2022, for similar reasons, and Valtteri Bottas having done the same in 2021. Hamilton went on to finish in fifth, with Bottas in third, in those respective races.

With the power unit regulations being so different this year, Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin said that past regrets over taking those penalties aren’t likely to recur this weekend.

“We have regretted taking penalties at Monza in the past,” he said.

“Degradation has often been low, the cars run low drag and therefore create a smaller tow, and the DRS effect has been limited because the rear wings are already very efficient.

“This year, however, Monza is an energy-starved circuit with four overtaking zones. A driver cannot defend all of them, so a faster car should be able to make progress relatively straightforwardly.

“The primary factor is when the hardware is needed. We have lost internal combustion engines at relatively low mileage, so we know we must introduce new components by a certain point.

“If that falls at a circuit where starting at the back would be particularly costly, we may choose to bring the change forward. We also lead both championships, so there is logic in taking the pain now rather than adding pressure if the margins tighten later in the season.

“George’s Budapest race is a useful reference. He dropped to the back after the start issue, yet recovered to the points relatively comfortably, and Budapest is not an easy circuit for overtaking.

“If a driver can recover much of the ground, there is an argument for taking all the hardware required at once rather than accepting a smaller penalty on more than one occasion.”

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While Antonelli is the driver affected for the upcoming race event, Russell won’t escape a similar penalty before season end, although he does still have an ICE, turbo, and MGU-K in hand over Antonelli – his on-the-limit components are the battery and control electronics.

“We have not finalised where George will take his penalty, but both drivers will be affected,” Lord said.

“George retired in Canada, Kimi retired in Barcelona, and George also stopped at the end of qualifying in Hungary.

“Had that happened in the race, the impact could have been much greater. We must manage the remaining events so that both cars reach the end of the season with the freshest and best-performing hardware possible.

“It is a constant trade-off between the risk of running high-mileage components and the points cost of taking a grid penalty and recovering through the field.”

Shovlin agreed, saying, “There is always a probability of failure rather than absolute certainty. Every race adds mileage and learning across Mercedes and the customer teams.

“Components are checked continually, and we assess whether previous containment measures have solved the underlying issues. Our confidence in running a power unit to a sixth or seventh event may be higher in a few races than it is today, so the plans are reviewed after every weekend.”

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