After the major exploits in Miami, the Mercedes driver has come off two weekends below expectations, although he believes this may benefit his maturation process. In Barcelona, he hopes to return to the level he had before Imola. In the meantime, he also cleared the air with Gabriel Bortoleto over the Monaco incident.
The incident with Gabriel Bortoleto, which ended the Brazilian’s Monaco Grand Prix, has been resolved. After crashing into the outside barriers at Portier, Bortoleto had sent a threatening radio message to Kimi Antonelli during a conversation with his engineer: “Next time I’ll put him in the wall.”
“We talked,” Kimi Antonelli explained, “and I understand his reaction. I experienced a similar situation in Miami — in my case, I didn’t crash into the barriers, but it still cost me the race lead. These are moments when it’s hard to control your emotions. When I met up with Gabriel, we cleared things up and talked for a long time, everything’s fine between us.”
Antonelli heads to Barcelona after two difficult weekends, following the breakthrough in Miami. The Monaco race was particularly frustrating, both for Kimi and Mercedes. “In my case, the mistake in qualifying compromised the whole weekend. Overall, the weekend was also a bit difficult for the team — we struggled a bit more than usual. We were getting back on track, and that mistake was unnecessary on my part. I had already made it to Q2 and then I ended up in the wall, starting from the eighth row.”
Having moved on from Monte Carlo with early-week debriefs, Kimi Antonelli is now focused on the future.
“Arriving here after two tough races makes me even more eager to get back on track. The goal is to return to the positions I was in before Imola. In several ways, Imola and Monaco taught me a lot — my first home race was very intense emotionally and mentally, and I didn’t manage my energy well. In that respect, Monaco went much better. This is also my first race ‘triple-header’, and I think I’ve understood how to manage energy. I can tell you that I’ll approach the Monza weekend very differently. It’s really important to prioritize myself to perform well on track. So it was a positive lesson.”
Barcelona also marks the end of the first third of the season — the most intense stretch Kimi has experienced so far in his young motorsport career. “There have been a lot of highs and a few lows. Over the last two weekends, I’ve been quite disappointed because I wasn’t able to get the performance I wanted, especially with the C6 tyres. I struggled a bit to find consistency with that compound and couldn’t get the most out of it. That also explains why my performance fluctuated so much between free practice and qualifying in the last two races. So I still have a lot of work to do with that compound, but overall this first part of the season is going fairly well.”
Antonelli also wanted to thank Valtteri Bottas for the support and help he offers every weekend. “For me, it’s a great opportunity — he’s always available for any kind of advice. He immediately understands when I’m struggling and is ready to help. In Suzuka, I had three difficult free practice sessions, but he found the right way and the right words to help me. For me, he’s a huge asset, and I rely a lot on Valtteri.”
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