Antonelli’s first pole celebrated briefly at Mercedes
The first pole position of his young Formula 1 career was enjoyed for less than an hour. After completing the media duties reserved for the top three finishers, Kimi Antonelli entered the Mercedes hospitality unit and was greeted by the applause of the team.
There were pats on the back, hugs, and shortly afterward a quick chat with motorsport.com. “I’m happy, yes. I wanted to have a clean session without mistakes. It would have been nice to see the direct comparison with George, I think we would have been very close. It was needed: after a difficult race like the one this morning it was a good response, ‘Best way to bounce back’ as the English say.”
End of the broadcast, at least as far as the pole position is concerned: Antonelli’s mind is already focused on tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Someone reminds him that the first pole position in Formula 1 is something to celebrate and remember, a result that Italy had been waiting for in helmet and racing suit for no less than 17 years. But there is nothing to be done—Kimi is willing to talk, but the subject is tomorrow’s race. “It will be important to make a clean start, not complicate things too much, and manage the graining well because it won’t be easy.”
Turning the page with impressive speed
Antonelli’s strength, like that of other pure talents of his generation, lies in his ability to turn the page with impressive speed. The downside is that special days are perhaps enjoyed a little less, but in many other ways it is a crucial advantage.
Just a few hours before the qualifying session that delivered his first pole position in Formula 1, Kimi had completed a Sprint race to forget. An unexpected issue at the start—caused by an incorrect setting triggered by a misunderstanding—and later contact with Isack Hadjar during his comeback cost him a ten-second penalty.
Once the briefing with the engineers was over, Antonelli immediately moved on. His mind was already on qualifying. He wanted the famous Pirelli ‘tyre trophy’ reserved for pole-sitters, and in the end the small Pirelli tyre arrived.
“There was also a strange moment,” Kimi explained. “I entered Turn 1 and I had the feeling that something on the car was broken. I had to use a lot more steering angle, but it was only in that corner, for the rest of the lap everything was fine.”
A mountain without intermediate steps
Antonelli will start tomorrow from the best possible position, but he is not considered the favorite on the eve of the race. The main candidate for victory remains George Russell, yet for Kimi it was important to send a signal.
His speed has never been in question. Antonelli clearly has the talent required to compete with George Russell, and on that point no one—especially within the team—has any doubts. However, in modern Formula 1 being fast is not enough to dominate. To succeed you need the complete package: performance combined with zero mistakes.
Every detail matters, and any small oversight comes at an extremely high price. It requires the full package, something that Russell is currently capitalizing on perfectly.
One hundred and fifty-three Grands Prix compared to twenty-five carry a lot of weight, today even more than in the past. There is an entire world to become familiar with, and only part of it consists of racing lines and braking points, which are now almost taken for granted.
Drivers are required to manage procedures—dozens of procedures—which have increased to such an extent that the out-lap before a qualifying attempt resembles a list of instructions and requests that would make the countdown of a space launch look simple. On this front Antonelli does not yet have Russell’s level of consistency, but the work is underway and progress is being made at a very good pace.
The challenge of measuring himself against the very best
There is one final aspect that helps define the scale of the mountain Antonelli is climbing. Today Russell is among the top three drivers in Formula 1. Perhaps not in the eyes of the general public, who also judge the human side of a driver who is not always the most popular personality, but when he puts on the helmet and racing suit George stands alongside Charles Leclerc and just behind Max Verstappen.
Kimi has been given an enormous opportunity. Making a Formula 1 debut directly with a top team like Mercedes is a chance that has been granted to very few drivers in the history of the sport. The only downside is that from the very first day you find yourself measuring against an absolute reference point, with no intermediate stages.
This is the challenge that Antonelli is currently facing.
Leave a Reply