The sign of defeat was a long trail of sparks. After starting Q1 on a set of medium tires, Kimi Antonelli completed a flying lap before returning to the pits to switch to soft tires. Back on track, he began his next flying lap after a warm-up lap, but at Turn 6, a harsh hit on the curb broke one of the floor’s mounting points, causing it to scrape against the asphalt.
Antonelli completed the lap with sparks flying from the rear of the car, and naturally, his lap time was heavily affected. Back in the pits, he awaited the outcome of the session, and it was only in the final seconds that Gabriel Bortoleto passed him for 15th place.
“When I got to Turn 6, there was some gravel on the track, and I went slightly wide. I didn’t change direction much, but the car hit the curb on the exit harder than I expected, and the floor got damaged, starting to drag on the asphalt. Obviously, this cost me a lot of performance, and without this issue, it would have been a different afternoon.”
Antonelli missed the Q2 cut by nine thousandths, but Mercedes’ chief engineer, Andrew Shovlin, explained that even if Kimi had made it to Q2, it wouldn’t have been much: “If Kimi had made it to Q2, we wouldn’t have had enough time to repair the car and send him back out.”
For tomorrow’s race, Kimi Antonelli will start from 16th position in what is expected to be a wet race. “It’s certainly not ideal to start from the eighth row,” Kimi explained, “but I hope there will be opportunities if it rains. Despite the unlucky outcome of today, I’m looking forward to my first Formula 1 race.”
“I think he’s going to have an exciting race,” commented Toto Wolff regarding Kimi Antonelli, “it won’t be easy starting in the middle of the pack, but he’ll have a chance to make up positions.” – he pointed out.
Regarding Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying strategy, the choice to start Q1 with a set of medium tires raised some debate. Mercedes’ goal was to save a set of soft tires (a goal achieved with George Russell) to have two available for Q3. However, for Kimi (on his first Formula 1 qualifying session), a standard tire management approach might have been more suitable for a rookie’s needs.
The race Kimi Antonelli will face tomorrow may offer opportunities for a comeback, but managing the car in the rain and dealing with the visibility challenges faced by drivers starting from the back will not be easy.
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