Finishing only 15th in the qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix could hardly satisfy Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who openly admitted that he struggled to put together a clean and competitive lap throughout the qualifying session. However, there was at least one positive takeaway for the young Italian driver from Bologna: the return to Mercedes’ older suspension specification proved effective, as demonstrated by the strong performance of his team-mate George Russell, who managed to secure a spot on the second row of the grid.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli offered a mix of disappointment and cautious optimism as he reflected on his performance in the qualifying session. His comments painted a picture of frustration with the final result, but also highlighted a clear step forward in terms of how the Mercedes Formula 1 car handled over the weekend at the Hungaroring.
Looking purely at the final result, it was clearly a disappointing qualifying session for the Italian rookie. Although he had the version of the Mercedes W15 that he prefers—equipped once again with the older suspension layout—Antonelli’s hopes were dashed when he missed out on Q3 by just seven thousandths of a second. To make matters worse, that lap time was later deleted, causing him to drop further back on the timesheets.
“I felt comfortable in the car because my first lap in Q1 went well,” explained Andrea Kimi Antonelli after the session. “But on my second attempt in Q2, I encountered some damp conditions in the second sector. Then, when I went out again on a fresh set of tyres, I suddenly had no grip at all and I honestly have no idea what happened.”
“Already in Turn 1 I completely lost the rear of the car. It’s really disappointing because I definitely had more confidence going into the run, but once again, things didn’t turn out the way I wanted.”
The young Mercedes junior driver was brutally honest in evaluating his performance: “It was a horrible lap. I think I lost at least four tenths of a second—two tenths just in Turn 1 and another two in Turn 13. Overall, the feeling was just awful throughout the entire lap.”
What made the situation even more disappointing for Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the fact that the car itself had felt much better since Mercedes reverted to the older suspension specification. The Italian driver had been vocal about feeling more connected to the car during Friday’s free practice sessions and had been pleased with the progress made in collaboration with his engineers at the Brackley-based team.
Unfortunately, his final classification in qualifying did not reflect that improvement, while George Russell’s performance—with a place on the second row of the grid—clearly confirmed that the W15 was performing at a much higher level with the reintroduced suspension layout.
“Definitely, this weekend feels like a completely different story,” said Andrea Kimi Antonelli. “We had a detailed discussion as a team, and we all agreed that both George and I felt much more comfortable with the old suspension setup—just like we did at the beginning of the season. That’s why we collectively made the decision to go back to it.”
“It’s a shame we didn’t make the switch back earlier in the season, because this weekend I truly felt much more confident in the car than I have in the recent races. It’s frustrating, because I genuinely believe the result could have been significantly better today.”
Antonelli also noted that the track conditions had evolved considerably compared to the earlier practice sessions, adding yet another variable to the mix: “The track conditions were very different compared to this morning. The air and track temperatures were lower, and the grip levels were higher, so in theory, there was much more potential to do well. It’s unfortunate that I wasn’t able to fully capitalize on that.”
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