Kimi Antonelli OUT of F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying after hitting wall

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

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli OUT of Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying after hitting wall

Antonelli in Baku trouble

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 25 September 2026 14:36 Updated: 14:41

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Kimi Antonelli was a shock early exit from qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after hitting a wall.

The Mercedes driver leads the world championship by 81 points in front of team-mate George Russell, but his chances of increasing that took a severe blow at the Baku circuit on Friday.

Antonelli heavily struck the wall on the inside of turn one during Q1, causing terminal damage to his car as he stopped out on track.

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The only silver lining for the Italian was he had already set a competitive lap time, meaning he won't be starting Saturday's race from the back of the grid.

Antonelli's time was good enough to put him in P15 in the session, giving Russell - who was fastest in Q1 - a huge title boost.

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Antonelli desperate to continue after hitting wall

Antonelli knew he was in trouble after hitting the wall, telling his team over the radio "Ah, I hit the wall!."

Antonelli then had an exchange with his race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, desperate to try and stay on track.

Bono: "We just better park up, mate. We're not going to be able to fix that."

Antonelli: "Are you sure?"

Bono: "Affirm. Stop in a safe place."

Antonelli: "Let me try, mate. Let me try."

Bono: "We can't fix this, mate."

KA: "Why can’t we fix it?"

Bono: "Looks like we have done something to the trackrod or the upright. So yeah. That’s a fairly big job."

KA: F***, I'm sorry guys, my god."

Bono: "No sweat Kimi."

Bono informed Antonelli to stop his Mercedes out on track at Baku

Can Antonelli recover in the race?

Antonelli has had a messy weekend, having missed half of the first one hour practice session on Thursday, due to a hydraulic failure on his Mercedes W17.

This issue also caused him to miss the first half-hour of the second session, leaving him on the backfoot.

Antonelli's P15 put him through to the second qualifying session, but unable to take part, it means he will start Saturday's race in P16.

The good news for Antonelli is the long straight at Baku makes for excellent overtaking opportunities giving the 20-year-old hope of still securing a positive result on race day.