Kimi Antonelli admits frustration during European GPs but reveals mindset shift after Monza. Kimi Antonelli reflects on his difficult European races.

What a pity about that contact with Carlos Sainz. At Austin, Kimi Antonelli could have aimed for a solid seventh place right behind his teammate George Russell. However, the collision with the former Ferrari driver forced him into a comeback race that ended in 13th position.

The young driver from Bologna is now looking for redemption in Mexico, a circuit where last year he completed his first real Formula 1 session — if we exclude the brief Monza appearance that ended with the Alboreto crash.

Antonelli’s words

“It was a shame about that contact. We were both in a good position and both ended up out of the race. We have different views about the incident, but now it’s time to move on,” said Kimi Antonelli when reflecting on the Austin clash, before analyzing his path of growth during his debut season. “I had a very long and difficult period during the European part of the season. The results kept not coming, and I let frustration take over a bit. Then I realized that I wasn’t really focusing on the main goal — on the basics and the procedures. I was fixated on the final result and became very frustrated. After Monza, I sat down with the team, and we agreed that something had to change. From that moment, my approach has been very different. Now I’m focusing much more on driving correctly and putting everything together.”

After the Austin Grand Prix, George Russell complained about how Formula 1 races are now often decided in the first lap and how overtaking has become increasingly rare. Kimi Antonelli agreed with his teammate’s assessment: “Will we see few overtakes after Turn 1? It’s my first time racing in Mexico, but a driver definitely feels a huge difference between clean air and turbulence. It also depends on the fact that Pirelli has improved the tires: stronger compounds allow longer stints with less degradation. With the cars being so close in pace, it becomes really difficult to create a rhythm advantage. Even if you have a couple of tenths’ advantage, it’s very hard to make an overtake. In Singapore, Charles had some issues, and even though I had a much better pace, I was stuck behind him. As George says, qualifying has become extremely important.”