Kimi Antonelli frustrated with qualifying but optimistic for race at Austin
Mercedes struggled to match their Sprint qualifying performance, dropping further down the top 10, with Kimi Antonelli finishing in seventh. After an exciting Sprint, the official qualifying reshuffled the order: Verstappen’s dominance remained clear, McLaren showed a mixed performance, and Ferrari bounced back after Friday’s disappointment. Mercedes, however, took a small step back, with George Russell in P4 and Antonelli in P7.
It wasn’t an easy qualifying for Mercedes at the Texas circuit. The German team lacked the extra pace needed to replicate their Sprint results. The W15 cars have shown strong race pace, as demonstrated in the mini-race where they finished P2 and P8, but they were more limited over a single lap, especially with the changing wind conditions.
Kimi Antonelli ended qualifying in seventh, a result that leaves some frustration considering the potential shown in earlier sessions.
“I was hoping for a slightly better position than seventh,” the Italian said in post-session interviews. “We couldn’t maximize the two Q3 laps and ended up further back than we could have been. Fifth place was definitely possible today, but we needed to put everything together.”
Despite his disappointment, Kimi Antonelli remains optimistic about Sunday’s race, confident in the pace shown during the Sprint.
“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” he confirmed. “The wind will change direction compared to today, which will probably affect the balance. On one hand, we tried to optimize the car for qualifying, but we also had to make sure not to compromise the race. Our pace in the Sprint seemed good, so we hope to use it tomorrow and gain a few positions,” Antonelli concluded.
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