Second race in F1 and more points for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who struggled a lot from the very first laps at the Chinese GP to bring his Mercedes to eighth position under the checkered flag.
The Bolognese driver started from there and finished there, battling with a W16 that was already damaged in the first meters of the Shanghai race, as he suffered floor damage when he hit the piece of wing lost by Charles Leclerc, who had made contact with a rival at the start.
And it was precisely the disqualification of both Ferraris that allowed the Mercedes driver to move up to sixth place in the final standings; the points earned under difficult circumstances are therefore very valuable, but the Emilia Romagna driver, although he didn’t make any mistakes, knows he must improve his qualifying lap and that the experience he is lacking compared to teammate George Russell is currently making a difference, as he himself admitted to Sky Sport microphones after the race.
“I had felt something strange with the car from the first lap, I was struggling to manage the rear and I wasn’t expecting it because yesterday it was the opposite, struggling with the front. Today, the oversteer was very high,” Kimi Antonelli explains.
“I didn’t know about the damage, they only told me at the end, and apparently it happened when I hit a piece of wing lost by Leclerc. This ruined the car a bit, making things more difficult for me.”
“Although I’ve scored points in two GPs, I’m honestly not satisfied, especially with yesterday’s qualifying. In Japan, it will be important to put everything together in the timed sessions so I can start at the front, and of course, I’ll try to analyze what happened in this race to be better prepared for Suzuka.
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