A bitter debut in Formula 1 for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who, in his first race weekend with Mercedes, failed to make it past Q1. Kimi Antonelli will start from the sixteenth position in the Australian GP after an unlucky qualifying session, affected by damage to the underside of his car.
Kimi Antonelli eliminated by six thousandths: Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber denies him Q2
The Italian driver was eliminated in the first qualifying segment by just six thousandths, beaten by debutant Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber. A result that leaves a bitter taste, especially considering that Antonelli’s Mercedes lost performance due to damage sustained during Q1.
During his fast lap, Antonelli slightly ran into the gravel at Turn 6, damaging the bottom of his car. Mercedes itself estimated that this issue cost him at least three-tenths of a second on the final straight, compromising any chances of improving.
Kimi Antonelli: “The floor detached, I lost a lot in the straight”
The young Italian explained to Sky Sport F1 what happened during the qualifying session: “Let’s say we had talked about it yesterday in the briefing that there’s a lot of gravel in Turn 6, and I guess it went badly for me because when I went over it, the floor broke, it detached and scraped on the ground, so I was losing a lot in the straight, and I lost a lot of downforce, and unfortunately, that’s how it went.”
“Probably, I should have started Q1 with the soft tire straight away, honestly, even with the medium, I needed another lap. We changed the strategy on the fly, but what compromised the qualifying was what happened during the lap with the soft tire.”
The young Italian driver now has the task of recovering ground in the race, trying to take advantage of every opportunity to climb from the sixteenth position. The Australian GP thus promises to be a challenging race for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will need to redeem an unlucky qualifying session and show his talent in his first F1 race.
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