Azerbaijan F1: Kimi Antonelli avoids F1 penalty despite surprise engine change at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Canada, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli avoids F1 penalty despite surprise engine change at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Bad start to Baku for Antonelli

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 24 September 2026 20:56

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Kimi Antonelli's Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend got off to the worst possible start after suffering a mechanical failure in the first practice session on Thursday, requiring an engine change.

The world championship leader came to a stop just 25 minutes into the session at the Baku circuit, relating to a hydraulics failure in his Mercedes.

It was a blow to the Italian who with an 81-point lead in the championship over his team-mate George Russell could become world champion in two races time at the Singapore Grand Prix.

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While the 20-year-old was ruled out for the rest of the session, the real damage was still to come. Having come to a stop heading towards turn seven, Antonelli parked his car in a run off area.

Keen marshals though spotted smoke coming out of the back of the Mercedes W17, and used a fire extinguisher to the rear of the car, (and diverting some of it onto Antonelli).

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Marshals force Mercedes engine change

Now, fire extinguishers are good for putting out fires, but a nightmare for engineers. Once it goes on an engine and dries, especially in hot temperatures, it takes a little bit of time to clean up.

A careful job has to be undertaken to clean it off. This couldn't be done before FP2 on Thursday and so a perfectly healthy engine had to be replaced by another in Antonelli's car.

Antonelli has already used five power units this term, one over the limited amount in the F1 rules, which led to him taking a penalty at the Italian Grand Prix.

However, the engine now in Antonelli's car is one from his already used set this season, meaning he will avoid getting hit by a penalty from the FIA stewards.

As well as missing 30 minutes of FP1, Antonelli also missed the first part of FP2, eventually getting out onto Baku circuit half-an-hour into the session following his morning issues.