Antonelli involved in car crash ahead of Bahrain F1 test, Mercedes driver unharmed

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been involved in a car accident but was unharmed in the crash and will take part in this week’s Bahrain Formula 1 pre-season test as planned.

Just before his departure to Bahrain, Antonelli was involved in a road accident in Serravalle. A traffic police report noted an impact with the guardrail, with no other vehicles involved.

The incident was confirmed by Mercedes in an official statement: “Last Saturday evening, near his home in San Marino, Kimi was involved in a road accident. The police attended the scene after being called by Kimi. His was the only car involved and, although the vehicle sustained damage, Kimi was completely unharmed.”

Antonelli was driving a Mercedes AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+ “Motorsport Collectors Edition” – an extremely limited version with just 200 cars produced.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes W17

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

Just before last month’s Barcelona test, Mercedes had promoted the delivery of the supercar to Antonelli, which features unique details such as hand-painted bodywork with a Petronas livery and other technical features.

These include an aerodynamic set-up with reduced lift and an enhanced cooling system, powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 capable of producing 612hp.

The crash isn’t expected to impact Antonelli’s first Bahrain test programme, with the Italian scheduled to drive the Mercedes W17 in the afternoon of the opening day on Wednesday, followed by the morning of the second day on Thursday and again the afternoon on the final day on Friday. Team-mate George Russell will drive for Mercedes in the corresponding sessions.

The first Bahrain pre-season test gets under way tomorrow, before the second and final pre-season test at the same venue takes place on 18-20 February.