The young Italian ran slightly wide into Turn 2, with his rear tyres finding the grass and spinning his Mercedes around before crashing heavily into the opposite wall, sending shards of debris across the track.
Antonelli was promptly out of the car and emerged unscathed, but in the process cost his teammate George Russell a strong lap as he was on a flyer and setting fastest sector times at the same moment.
The crash puts Antonelli’s qualifying in doubt, with Mercedes facing a monumental repair job ahead of qualifying at 4pm AEDT.
More to come
