Mercedes F1 star OUT as red flag issued at Dutch Grand Prix

Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli caused a red flag and was forced out of FP1 early on at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The youngster beached his Mercedes and came to a halt just before the barriers, after he locked up into Turn 9 and understeered into the gravel.

Antonelli asked over team radio if he was able to return to the session, but his race engineer replied: "Negative, that car will need to be recovered."

1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve spoke on what the embarrassing return to the sport after the summer break meant for Antonelli on Sky Sports, and said: "Feeling a little bit bad, a little embarrassed, lacking confidence because he had three weeks to reset and in the space of a few minutes, he’s gone back to the way he was before the holidays.

"And all those reset moments, they’re gone. You’re back to square zero and it’s as if those three weeks of holidays didn’t happen and that’s tough."

Antonelli slips up in FP1 at Dutch Grand Prix

The session resumed after a minor delay to recover Antonelli's car, with Mercedes one driver down in the crucial first practice session.

Elsewhere in the session, Tsunoda also went off the track and into the gravel shortly before Antonelli's trip off the track, although the Red Bull star was able to continue in FP1.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton also endured a tense moment heading towards the banked Turn 3, sending his Ferrari into a half spin, but managed to continue running.

For both Hamilton and Tsunoda, these were only minor wobbles, but Antonelli had his work cut out to catch up in FP2 later on Friday.

The Italian is under the microscope after a string of disappointing performances in F1, catalysed by a lap one crash with Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.

In the past four grands prix, Antonelli has only scored a single point and his form poses the question whether the youngster was promoted to Mercedes prematurely.

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