Antonelli: An unfortunate Qualifying session to start the season

The much-hyped 18-year-old Italian, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff's protege, was always going to be a big risk stepping up as he has to Mercedes, one of the biggest teams in the sport where there is simply nowhere to hide, less so at the German legends. The 'Antonelli project' got through the first big session - Qualifying - without impressing.

Slowest of the Mercedes-powered drivers, Antonelli will start his first-ever Grand Prix from P16, and gave the reasons why: "As I came through turn six on my first push lap on the Soft tyre, there was some gravel on track and I ran slightly wide. It was not enough to really impact my lap time, but the car hit the exit kerb harder than I expected.

"I suffered some significant floor damage. I could feel the car bottoming on the straight and costing me a lot of performance. Without the damage, I am sure it would have been a very different story for us," reckoned Antonelli after his first Formula 1 Qualifying session.

This means the youngster will start at the wrong end of a frantic and ultra-tight midfield, where his inexperience will be severely tested. Antonelli is aware of what lies ahead on Sunday: "Starting P16 is of course not ideal. That is particularly true when you look at our pace in FP3 as I think we could have been challenging near the front of the grid.

"Now we look ahead to tomorrow. The forecast is for rain and that will hopefully present us with some opportunities. I'm looking forward to it and getting my first F1 race under my belt," added Antonelli, who was born the year Fernando Alonso won the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.

In the sister car, George Russell was good for P4 and as team leader had a word of prasie for his teammate: "Kimi was unfortunate to be knocked out in Q1, he has shown great signs of speed this weekend and he'll soon be right up there."

Mercedes trackside boss Andrew Shovlin reflected on Antonelli's Qualifyinh mishap in the team report: "Kimi was unfortunate having run over the exit kerb at turn six. That caused floor damage that impacted his performance significantly, both on the straights and in the corners.

"He did his very best to get the car through to Q2 but, even if he had been able to do so, it's unlikely that we would have been able to make the necessary repairs to get him back out there."

"We can be encouraged by his progress through the weekend though, and the pace he has shown on both the single lap and the long run. Whilst he's starting out of position, the wet weather may afford him the chance to make good progress up the field," added Shovlin.

His sentiments were echoed by Wolff: "Kimi was very unfortunate to suffer floor damage having run over the exit kerb at turn six. He didn't run very wide yet suffered a big hit on the underside of the car and that caused him to lose a significant amount of performance.

"He put in a strong effort to try and hustle the car through to Q2, but it wasn't quite enough. It is all beneficial for his learning though and he will now have an exciting race trying to come through the pack," added Wolff, after Qualifying.

Mercedes have won four times at Albert Park, the last time when Valtteri Bottas triumphed at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. The Finn sits in the Silver Arrows garage this year as their reserve, while far less worthy drivers fumble around.