Mercedes aiming for consistent, straightforward weekend at Monza

The Mercedes Formula 1 rookie had an incident with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and took him out, and for that he received a ten-second time penalty in addition to another five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Russell was also hampered by an incident with Leclerc as well, which meant his W16 suffered floor damage.

Toto Wolff is hoping for a better weekend at Monza; he said: "We head to Monza aiming for a more consistent and straightforward weekend than at Zandvoort.

"At times, we looked to have decent pace that would enable us to fight for the podium," he reflected on last weekend. "Despite starting P11, Kimi progressed through the field well and, were it not for the contact with Leclerc, would likely have been challenging those ahead in the closing stages.

"For George, his race was also compromised by an incident with the Ferrari. He did a good job to bring solid points home in P4 despite carrying significant floor damage."

The race in Monza will be the second home race for Antonelli following the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where the rookie was distracted by off-track activities, but Wolff is hoping the 19-year-old will be more focused on the job this time around.

"The Italian Grand Prix is a special weekend with a great atmosphere," he said. "For Kimi it is a second home race of the season. Whilst that will be exciting for him, we know his focus will be 100 per cent on doing the job on track.

"The competitive order behind McLaren is close and we will have to be at our best if we are to continue closing the gap to second in the Constructors'," the Austrian concluded.

Mercedes are locked in a battle with Ferrari for second in the 2025 F1 Constructors' Championship. They are 12 points behind the Italian squad.