Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix recovery was never going to become another “Monza 2.0”. After starting 16th, the Mercedes driver climbed to fifth and limited the damage in the Formula 1 title fight, despite contact with Oliver Bearman costing his W17 around 10 points of aerodynamic downforce during the race.
The Baku weekend was difficult from the beginning for the championship leader. A hydraulic problem cost Andrea Kimi Antonelli around an hour of practice running on Thursday, while a qualifying crash at Turn 1 left him near the back of the grid. He then had to complete much of the race with additional aerodynamic damage after Oliver Bearman struck the left side of his Mercedes at a Safety Car restart.
Antonelli calls Baku his worst weekend of the year
Anyone expecting Andrea Kimi Antonelli to repeat his remarkable Monza comeback in Azerbaijan was quickly disappointed. The Mercedes driver himself described Baku as his “worst weekend of the year”.
A hydraulic issue cost Andrea Kimi Antonelli around 30 minutes in FP1 and another half-hour in FP2, leaving him with significantly less track time than his rivals. That became particularly costly in qualifying.
With fewer references from practice, Andrea Kimi Antonelli appeared to misjudge the grip available at Turn 1 during Q1, striking the inside wall and bringing his session to an almost immediate end. The mistake left the Mercedes championship leader 16th on the grid on a weekend dominated by George Russell.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli also knew that taking excessive risks made little sense. He arrived in Baku with an 81-point championship advantage, making the bigger objective of winning the world title more important than chasing another individual race victory.
Mercedes says there was never an expectation of ‘Monza 2.0’
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord, who replaced the absent Toto Wolff in Azerbaijan, explained that Andrea Kimi Antonelli never had the same confidence in the W17 as George Russell.
“I think you could see that Kimi was a little slower than George’s pace, even when he was able to run in clean air with no cars in front of him. That was because George had a great weekend, but also because he didn’t have a great feeling with the car,” Bradley Lord said.
“Obviously he lost a lot of time in FP1, then there was the accident in qualifying. In qualifying you really need all your reference points and the feeling with the car to extract the maximum from it, and I think Andrea was missing precisely that because of the reduced amount of time he had spent in the car.”
Bradley Lord stressed that Mercedes did not expect Andrea Kimi Antonelli to repeat the Italian Grand Prix, where he had produced a spectacular recovery from the back to win.
“He was missing those reference points, but I think it was important not to go into the race thinking it could be a ‘Monza 2.0’ for him. Baku is a very different circuit, where overtaking is more difficult and the challenges are different, and I think he approached the race very well.”
Antonelli’s caution helps him escape huge Turn 1 crash
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s cautious approach proved crucial at the restart following the first Safety Car. The Mercedes driver was even prepared to concede positions rather than take unnecessary risks through the Turn 1 bottleneck.
That decision paid off dramatically. Franco Colapinto arrived at Turn 1 at high speed after misjudging his braking point and hit Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, which in turn struck Lando Norris’ McLaren and eliminated both cars.
Lando Norris had only just passed Andrea Kimi Antonelli around the outside under braking. Had Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his braking phase to fight the reigning world champion more aggressively, he could easily have become caught up in the same accident.
“He finished the first lap in 17th and finished the race fifth. But he also had the intuition to avoid the accident at Turn 1 at the restart,” Bradley Lord said.
“Several cars took more risks and went out. He made his way through it, albeit with some damage caused by a Haas. That gives a pretty accurate picture of what we saw in the race.”
“For all those reasons, I think fifth place is a great result, also because of the way he drove. It’s a really good sign for the races to come.”
Oliver Bearman contact costs Antonelli 10 points of downforce
Andrea Kimi Antonelli did not escape the Turn 1 chaos completely. Although he avoided Franco Colapinto’s accident, Oliver Bearman’s right-front wheel struck the left side of the number 12 Mercedes.
The impact damaged the W17 around the bargeboard area. According to information obtained by Motorsport.com, Mercedes estimated that Andrea Kimi Antonelli lost around 10 points of aerodynamic downforce as a result.
The damage is believed to have cost approximately two tenths of a second per lap and probably left the car with a compromised balance for the remainder of the race. Viewed in that context, recovering from 16th on the grid to fifth represented an impressive exercise in damage limitation.
The result also reflected the underlying strength of a car that has established itself as the 2026 benchmark, with the Mercedes W17 proving exceptionally competitive throughout the season.
Antonelli misses Leclerc by just 0.376 seconds
Andrea Kimi Antonelli eventually recovered to fifth and came extremely close to taking fourth place from Charles Leclerc at the finish. The Mercedes crossed the line just 0.376 seconds behind the Ferrari.
That recovery limited the championship damage caused by George Russell’s dominant Baku weekend. Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s advantage over his Mercedes team-mate has fallen from 81 points to 66, but he remains firmly in control of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
The next challenge comes in only a few days at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with Sepang returning to Formula 1 after a nine-year absence. Andrea Kimi Antonelli will therefore have to adapt quickly to a circuit he has never raced at in Formula 1.
After his most difficult weekend of the season, Sepang provides Andrea Kimi Antonelli with an immediate opportunity to put Baku behind him and restore the level of performance he has repeatedly shown throughout 2026. The championship fight continues, with George Russell now 66 points behind and the decisive phase of the season approaching.
Leave a Reply