Kimi Antonelli’s Promising Start in Formula 1: A Matter of Race Pace

In his rookie season with Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has demonstrated impressive speed and potential, leaving team boss Toto Wolff optimistic. However, both Wolff and Antonelli anticipate a significant leap forward in race pace performance.

Breakthrough Performance in Miami

The young racer had an exceptional weekend in Miami, outqualifying his esteemed teammate George Russell on two occasions, even securing pole position for the sprint event. Previously, Antonelli’s one-lap deficit stood at 0.370 seconds.

Despite this impressive start, Antonelli was overtaken by Russell for the sixth consecutive grand prix race. Seizing the opportunity presented by a battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the start, Antonelli claimed second place. However, he was subsequently overtaken by both McLarens, maintaining a pace similar to Russell’s, albeit on different tire compounds.

Assessing Performance and Identifying Areas for Improvement

The high point definitely [is] seeing the speed on a single lap – great,” Wolff commended Antonelli’s performance. “That’s another proof of his talent and a good indication of how the future can be.

In the race, Antonelli faced challenges due to the difficulty in finding suitable references for comparison. Although he managed to maintain position, his performance on hard tires was less than satisfactory. Antonelli lost 14 seconds over the last 27 laps and struggled to make the tire work effectively.

I think the high point definitely [is] seeing the speed on a single lap – great,” Wolff commented, assessing his protege’s performance. “That’s another proof of his talent and a good indication of how the future can be.“And then in the race, challenging, because it’s so difficult here to find the right reference. You can say, was the medium stint quick enough? With George holding on in the back on the hard tyres – not good. And then when [Antonelli] went onto the hard… He just lacks experience managing it the right way.“I think for Kimi at that stage it was about bringing the car home in that position.”

Antonelli himself acknowledged the need for improvement following his impressive Miami display. “I need to check the race pace,” he admitted. “Today was just not good, especially on the hard. I really struggled to make the tyre work in the stint, I was just sliding a lot around and I couldn’t really find a lap time.“So I definitely need to analyze what went wrong in order to be better for Imola.“It was quite unique, this race, because it was the first time that I really struggled to make the tyre work. But still, there’s a lot of positives to take away for next weekend.”

Learning Curve and Positive Outlook

Finding the right references – and [race engineer] Bono really tried to guide him – when you’re in that car, it’s not easy,” the Austrian pointed out. “And I think it’s just part of the learning curve, there’s nothing that is disappointing or not. Overall, I go away with the feeling that he’s done a good job.”

Additional reporting by Mark Mann-Bryans and Emily Selleck.