Kimi Antonelli wasted the potential of his car at the Singapore Grand Prix. In Formula 1, even small errors can disrupt the balance. Behind the wheel of a surprisingly fast Mercedes W16, the Italian driver confirmed his exceptional skill on street circuits. However, he faltered in two key areas, mainly turns 11 and 16, which cost him the chance to compete with his teammate for pole position.
Strong weekend build-up for Kimi starting Friday
The gap between Antonelli and Max Verstappen was just 0.20 seconds, placing Kimi second behind George Russell. While minimal, this gap accurately reflects the Italian’s pace. From Monza onwards, Antonelli regained confidence lost due to the mid-season suspension changes. Reviewing his qualifying performance, it was clear he had an excellent feel for the walls of Marina Bay.
As James Allison highlighted during the post-Baku briefing, Kimi and his team have adjusted their approach in free practice to help him regain confidence. The solid performance in the first two qualifying phases was a direct result of clean driving honed during practice sessions, where the main issue was the lack of rotation through the first three corners.
Antonelli hit the track limits twice in the opening corners, forcing the team to modify certain procedures. Specifically, during Q2, he reported significant understeer and requested support from the team. To improve performance, he adjusted his tire preparation to optimize heat activation, using a more aggressive warm-up approach.
This strategy allowed him to reduce the gap to his teammate to just six hundredths of a second in the first sector, compared to 0.15 seconds on his first attempt. In his second Q3 run, he did not make major corrections in T1, suffering slight oversteer out of turn 3. While his first sector was strong, he was unable to fully capitalize on it through the remaining two-thirds of the circuit.
Ideal lap could have put Antonelli on the front row
It is worth noting that the weather conditions favored the W16, despite Marina Bay being significantly warmer than other tracks. Toto Wolff’s team benefited from minimal wind, around 6 km/h, consistent throughout the weekend. This stability made it easier to find an optimal aerodynamic balance and keep the car stable.
Additionally, track temperatures dropped by about 6°C from FP3 to qualifying, along with reduced humidity. With roughly 10% less water vapor in the air than the previous day, tire thermal management improved, particularly for the Brackley-based car. Combined with Mercedes’ well-researched aerodynamic setup, these factors contributed to an effective qualifying package.
Looking at Antonelli’s performance, his ideal lap was approximately three tenths faster than his actual best lap. The graphic analysis considers his fastest Q3 attempt, showing that the main problems occurred in the first sector. Kimi struggled with the opening two corners, where the car still exhibited understeer.
Errors caused by driving beyond the car’s limits
During his final attempt, Kimi made a mistake in turn 11. The error stemmed from a poor line and excessive speed exiting turn 10, which caused the car to oversteer. A similar issue occurred at turn 16, where he was once again slowed by too much rotation on entry.
One of the key weaknesses of the Brackley car is corner entry. Antonelli admitted that on his final lap he exceeded the car’s limits, suffering from a lack of grip. To compensate, he constantly had to adjust the brake balance toward the rear when braking at higher steering angles. This situation was not managed optimally, ultimately costing him a front-row start.
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