Kimi Antonelli recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fifth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, limiting the damage to his Formula 1 championship lead despite describing Baku as his worst weekend of the season. The Mercedes driver admitted he raced at only “85%” after losing confidence following his qualifying accident, choosing not to take unnecessary risks as George Russell reduced the gap at the top of the standings to 66 points.
The extraordinary comeback seen at Monza was not repeated, but the circumstances were very different and, given how the weekend had unfolded, fifth place was still a valuable result. Kimi Antonelli came close to taking fourth from Charles Leclerc in a frantic finish, with their battle separated by only slightly more than the 0.196-second margin between race winner George Russell and Max Verstappen.
Kimi Antonelli limits the damage after difficult Baku qualifying
After his mistake in qualifying, Kimi Antonelli decided not to take unnecessary risks during the race. The championship leader started 16th and actually dropped one position on the opening lap before beginning a steady recovery through the field, although it lacked the spectacular momentum of his comeback at Monza a few weeks earlier.
The mistake that put him so far down the grid had come in Q1, where Kimi Antonelli hit the barrier at Turn 1 and ended his session early. He later admitted it had been a “very stupid” Baku qualifying error, while Mercedes publicly backed its championship leader ahead of the race.
Kimi Antonelli largely avoided risks on Saturday, apart from the danger created by Franco Colapinto’s extremely late braking move following the first restart, when the Alpine driver collided with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris. Once that incident had passed, Kimi Antonelli focused on extracting what he could from the race.
At the finish, he admitted that he had not driven at his absolute limit. Given his substantial championship advantage over George Russell and the number of races still remaining, the approach was understandable. With the title now the priority, maximising points from difficult weekends is becoming more important than taking unnecessary risks.
Antonelli: ‘It was the worst weekend of the year’
“Today I didn’t have the pace I had in the previous weekends, but it was like that throughout the whole weekend,” Kimi Antonelli admitted after the race. “It was the worst weekend of the year. It was a weekend where everything went wrong. The problem in Free Practice 1, I lost half of Free Practice 2 and then the mistake in qualifying. In the end, I have to be happy with fifth place.”
The practice problem had already disrupted Kimi Antonelli’s preparation before his qualifying accident compounded the situation. Mercedes had lost valuable running with its championship leader, making the recovery to fifth an important exercise in damage limitation. The team had also moved quickly to support him after the crash, with Mercedes stressing that mistakes can happen over a long season.
“The maximum target was fourth place and we came close,” Kimi Antonelli continued. “Today I didn’t have much confidence after yesterday’s mistake. I simply tried to take advantage of the mistakes made by the people ahead of me.
“In the move with Lewis I could have braked a little later, but I preferred not to take the risk. Let’s say I drove at 85% today, not at my 100%.”
Kimi Antonelli targets immediate response in Malaysia
One of the strengths Kimi Antonelli has demonstrated this season has been his ability to leave difficult weekends behind and immediately focus on the next challenge. Malaysia now follows, a circuit he has never raced on before but one where Mercedes is expected to introduce its final major aerodynamic upgrade package of the season.
The new components should give the W17 another opportunity to find performance for the closing stages of the 2026 campaign. Mercedes has already produced the benchmark package for much of the year, with the strength of the W17 central to its championship-leading season.
“I’ve never raced in Malaysia, but I’ll try to get back to where I belong,” Kimi Antonelli said. “The track is very nice, and we’ll also see how the upgrades perform. It will be a good opportunity to try to restore order and get back to my level already next week.”
Kimi Antonelli has already tested the package in Mercedes’ simulator and says the early signs have been encouraging, although he stressed that only real track running will provide a definitive answer.
“The team believes in the package. I tried it in the simulator and it seems to work. But until you try it on track, you don’t know,” Kimi Antonelli explained. “In Singapore there is old asphalt and McLaren is always very strong, as is Lando. We’ll see, but hopefully the upgrades will give us more performance, even though we didn’t need it this weekend.”
Antonelli wanted fresh Mercedes power unit after Baku crash
Kimi Antonelli also revealed that after his qualifying accident he wanted Mercedes to fit a fresh power unit, giving him another new engine to use across the final eight races of the season.
That option was unavailable because Mercedes had not planned a power unit change for the Azerbaijan weekend and had therefore not brought the necessary fresh unit to Baku.
“I wanted to change the power unit, but it wasn’t planned for this weekend and we weren’t ready,” Kimi Antonelli said. “Our hands were tied. It’s a shame, I would have happily taken it, but that’s how it went.”
Kimi Antonelli therefore leaves Baku with his championship advantage reduced but still substantial. George Russell’s victory has cut the gap from 81 to 66 points, yet fifth place ensured that one of the most difficult weekends of Antonelli’s season did not turn into a major championship setback.
The priority now is Malaysia, where Mercedes’ final major aerodynamic package and Kimi Antonelli’s ability to immediately reset after a difficult weekend could play an important role in the next phase of the title fight.
Leave a Reply