Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start from fifth on the grid in today’s race after a one-place penalty was handed to both Mercedes drivers.
In Friday’s post-qualifying interviews in parc fermé, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had set a top-5 finish in qualifying as his goal — and that’s exactly what he achieved. The young Mercedes driver from Bologna will start from fifth position, having been demoted by one spot due to a penalty given to both him and George Russell. It was a strong lap from the Italian, who, after struggling on his first Q3 attempt, managed to put together a solid lap on his second run to secure a spot on the third row.
Antonelli himself commented on his lap at the end of qualifying:“I made a mistake on my first Q3 attempt which got me off on the wrong foot, since I ended up without a time on the board. There was a lot of pressure on me for the second lap. It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy with the lap I managed to pull off. I made a few small errors here and there during the session, but overall it’s my best grid position of the season. Even with the penalty, I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow. My confidence keeps growing and I’m still learning. This is another step forward for me.” “.
On the race, he said:“I think tomorrow’s race will be really tight. I believe it’ll be hard to fight with the McLarens, but there’ll be chances to battle with the others. It’s going to be a long race, and our pace seems pretty similar to the rest of the field, so getting a good start will be really important — and we’ll see what we can make of it.”
Photo: X Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
