Kimi Antonelli’s first home Grand Prix, in “his” Imola, did not bring the hoped-for satisfaction. After recovering a few positions in the first half of the race—also taking advantage of a VSC—the Italian’s race ended early due to a throttle failure, marking the end of a weekend in which “nothing went right.”
The hope was that his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Italy, in front of his home crowd and the fans who have supported him throughout his rise to the top category, might bring some joy. But the Imola weekend did not offer the expected emotions and ended prematurely.
After being knocked out in Q2 during qualifying—due in part to difficulties in extracting peak grip from the tyres—the Italian was tasked with fighting back. Like others in a similar position, he based his race strategy on a one-stop approach, thus saving the time of an extra pit stop.
The choice to start on hard tyres was made with this in mind, so that the Italian could extend the first stint and potentially take advantage of a Safety Car, much like Lewis Hamilton, who set off with the same strategy in mind.
In the early stages of the race, Antonelli remained close behind Isack Hadjar, who had started on mediums, and managed to defend from Lewis Hamilton. “With the hards, stuck in the DRS train and always driving in dirty air, it wasn’t easy. But overall, I think it was positive to be able to hold off Lewis,” explained the Mercedes driver, before cutting himself off.
A strategy that, in fact, yielded the expected results: by taking advantage of the Virtual Safety Car deployed to remove Esteban Ocon’s car—stopped trackside due to a technical issue—Antonelli was able to gain several positions, climbing up to sixth.
The need to complete another thirty laps called for caution in tyre management, knowing it would be difficult to make the mediums last that long, even though the same yellow-striped tyre had performed well in the first stint for those who extended it until the VSC.
However, the Mercedes driver, whose goal was at least to fight his way into the points, did not see the chequered flag, betrayed by his W16 due to a throttle issue that emerged just a few laps after the VSC.
“It was a shame to finish like this. We were lucky with the VSC, but obviously, there was a risk in trying the alternative strategy. And then, with the mediums, after just 2-3 laps I started having a throttle problem, and I began losing power on the straights.
But it was also a bit inconsistent, because one lap the power was okay, then the next I was losing a lot. It wasn’t easy, and unfortunately, at a certain point I had to stop. It’s a shame to end like this, but now I need to go back and review everything that happened this weekend, so I can come back stronger in Monaco,” said the Italian in post-race interviews.
Speaking about the issue, Bradley Lord—standing in for Toto Wolff this weekend—explained that the problem appeared in the data around lap thirty and showed up as the throttle failing to deliver the requested power. The situation gradually worsened until Antonelli was forced to retire, as the throttle was no longer providing any power.
Although it was difficult to find positives in a weekend that offered few satisfactions, Antonelli still wanted to thank all the fans who supported him: “As for the fans, it was a fantastic weekend, I have to thank them. Even in difficult moments, they made the weekend special. It was great—thanks to all of them—because, even though it was a tough weekend where nothing went right, I received tremendous support from them.”
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