China Qualifying – First Q3 for Kimi Antonelli: “Difficult to find the right window, there’s work to do”. Kimi Antonelli delivers in Chinese GP qualifying and reaches Q3 for the first time.

It was an overall positive Saturday for the Italian. Kimi Antonelli secured seventh place on the grid for the Chinese Sprint race and nearly confirmed that position in qualifying. The Mercedes driver made his first-ever Q3 appearance and will start from eighth place, with only Isack Hadjar in P7 separating him from the other top-team drivers.

The Sprint Race
Starting from seventh, the #12 driver was overtaken in the opening corners by a charging Yuki Tsunoda. However, right ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris made a mistake that cost him several positions, allowing the Italian to reclaim P7.

Antonelli soon closed back in on the Japanese driver, staying within DRS range for most of the race, but he never found the opportunity to overtake. He ultimately finished where he started, collecting two points and keeping McLaren’s #4 car behind him.

China Qualifying: First Q3 for Kimi Antonelli
The Mercedes driver put in another solid performance in qualifying. While in Australia, he had only managed P16 before staging an impressive comeback in the race, this time his starting position will make things easier.

Antonelli progressed through Q1 with the tenth-fastest time and then cleared Q2 in ninth. In Q3, he gained another position, securing eighth place and starting from the fourth row alongside fellow rookie Hadjar, who took P7.

The driver’s words
Reflecting on his Saturday, Kimi Antonelli said: “There was definitely more confidence today, but I still struggled to understand the warm-up,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“Sometimes I started a bit too cold and couldn’t get grip during the lap, so it was really difficult to find the right window to make the tires work. Let’s say there’s still a lot of work to do in that area, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

The #12 driver then shared his expectations for the race based on his starting position. “I think we have the pace to fight for the top six,” he said. “I also believe that staying behind a car for so long today didn’t help, but we managed to improve the car after the Sprint, so I think we are in a better place for tomorrow.”