Kimi Antonelli suffered a heavy crash in final practice at the Australian Grand Prix as team-mate George Russell underlined Mercedes’ speed by topping the session with a stunning lap.
As Mercedes unleashed the pace many suspected, Antonelli lost control at Turn 2 and hit the barrier at high speed. The 19-year-old was quickly out of the car and checked by medics, but the severity of the damage left his participation in the first qualifying session in doubt.
Mercedes managed a remarkable repair job, and aided by a red flag caused when Max Verstappen crashed out of Q1, they were able to get Antonelli back on track and through to the latter parts of the session.
There were mixed emotions at Mercedes as Russell set the fastest time of Practice Three with a 1:19.053, putting him six tenths clear of Lewis Hamilton in second. Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc, third, look the likeliest challengers to Mercedes for pole after finishing ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen was sixth, behind new Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar in fifth, and voiced frustration over the radio about issues with his car.
‘Crash could impact Antonelli all year’
Sky Sports F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz warned the crash could have a significant effect on Antonelli’s 2026 campaign.
“There’s no good time to crash, but in F1 the worst possible time in practice to crash is in the last 10 minutes of Practice Three going into the qualifying session,” he said. “In the garage it was playing out like a Drive to Survive episode. Kimi was there, Toto was reacting, stony-faced. Kimi didn’t go over to Toto for quite a while, he was with his engineer Peter Bonnington trying to understand what had just happened.
“We wait to see what the effect on the rest of the weekend will be for Kimi Antonelli, and potentially on the rest of the year as well. Remember how much his accident in Monza in 2024 — in his first free practice session before he even became a fully-fledged F1 driver — affected him throughout the whole of last season. Hopefully he’ll be able to move on quite quickly.”
Australian GP Practice Three Timesheet
1) George Russell — Mercedes — 1:19.053
2) Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari — +0.616
3) Charles Leclerc — Ferrari — +0.774
4) Oscar Piastri — McLaren — +1.034
5) Isack Hadjar — Red Bull — +1.084
6) Max Verstappen — Red Bull — +1.144
7) Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes — +1.271
8) Lando Norris — McLaren — +1.390
9) Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi — +1.406
10) Oliver Bearman — Haas — +1.725
11) Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls — +1.785
12) Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls — +1.837
13) Esteban Ocon — Haas — +1.930
14) Nico Hülkenberg — Audi — +2.014
15) Pierre Gasly — Alpine — +2.018
16) Franco Colapinto — Alpine — +2.360
17) Alex Albon — Williams — +2.611
18) Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin — +3.667
19) Valtteri Bottas — Cadillac — +4.461
20) Sergio Perez — Cadillac — +5.344
21) Carlos Sainz — Williams — no time set
22) Lance Stroll — Aston Martin — no time set
Sky Sports F1’s Australian GP schedule
Saturday March 7
5am: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
7am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
9.45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday March 8
12.20am: F2 Feature Race*
2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
6am: Australian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
7am: Ted’s Notebook*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP highlights (also on Sky One)
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
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