What the Mercedes team principal said
“Sooner or later they will get penalties“, said Lewis Hamilton at an early stage referring to Mercedes drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
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The Mercedes power unit has had several reliability issues and Lando Norris, for example, has already served a ten-place grid penalty in Belgium for introducing a third battery compared to the two allowed by the regulations.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has already ‘used up’ four power units and will therefore inevitably get a penalty when he introduces new components. The Mercedes driver has a 50-point lead in the Drivers’ standings over Lewis Hamilton and the only question is where to take the penalty.
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The choice seems to be between Monza and Baku, Toto Wolff joked – up to a point – about the scenario that would see Antonelli penalized right at his home GP in Monza, which is already sold out: “I have to ask dad Marco if it’s okay to start at the back of the grid in Monza – Wolff said – so we would take all the pressure off him.” Antonelli in 2024 had an accident exiting the Parabolica in the FP1 session in which he participated as a young driver and in the 2025 edition he did not go beyond ninth place overall.
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