Since the start of the European tour, the protégé of Mercedes struggled to regain its early season rhythm. With seven out of nine Grands Prix out of the points between Imola and Zandvoort and several incidents caused during the race, notably with Max Verstappen et Charles Leclerc, the Bolognese was going through a black streak.
The return from the summer break was hardly more promising than the start of summer for the Silver Arrows driver. At Zandvoort (Netherlands), the race turned into a disaster for the Mercedes rookie when the Italian made contact with Charles Leclerc on the fifty-third lap of the race. Penalized ten seconds for this incident, he finished in sixteenth place. After his incident in FP2 and his ninth place at Monza (Italy), Toto wolff openly criticized Antonelli’s performance, calling the weekend ” disappointing ” A message that was nevertheless heard by his young driver. He put an end to this bad run in Azerbaijan, where he finished in fourth place. While the driver is not without blame, the fact remains that his rookie mistakes are not the only causes of his inconsistent results.
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Antonelli penalized by simulator problems
The main person concerned was unfortunately unable to train before the Dutch Grand Prix. In Zandvoort he came for a simulator session, but we encountered some problems that prevented him from preparing properly., says Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ track engineering director. He then made a mistake in FP1. I think we have to take some of the responsibility because we couldn’t do a normal preparation.. » After his retirement between the Dutch dunes, Antonelli had to present himself at the Italian GP without any further preparation on the simulator. “Before Zandvoort, I wasn’t able to do a simulator, neither for Zandvoort nor for Monza. Obviously, that didn’t help.” he admits, while his only experience on the Italian track in a Formula 1 was his exit from the track in the first minutes of FP1 of the 2024 edition, where he was competing in his first official session in the premier category. Not enough to give him confidence without having been able to practice on the simulator…
To compensate for his weaknesses, Antonelli has redoubled his efforts in his preparation for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He was with us last week [before Baku] and had a very big day, covering two or three race distances or equivalent mileage, to prepare for here. ” congratulates Andrew Shovlin. “I think we were able to work well before Baku, and that really helped with our mindset too.” notes the driver after his qualification in fourth position in Azerbaijan. Such good consolidation, in my opinion, was important to achieve this result. ” also testifies Toto Wolff, director of the star team.
Kimi Antonelli made a “very good rebound” in Baku
His fourth place in the race in Baku is a positive comeback for the Brackley men. His mentor, who was critical several weeks ago, praised the ” very good rebound » of his protégé in Azerbaijan. Antonelli effectively fulfilled the mission entrusted to him: to have a smooth weekend, even though he saw a good number of his colleagues end up in the Baki walls during an interminable qualifying session. “After some tough months in European races, he came here with a solid fourth place, running in the leading group, So greet Toto Wolff. Here [in Baku], perhaps there was something missing in the ultimate performance that made the difference between a podium and no podium, nevertheless notes the Austrian.
With this encouraging result in Azerbaijan, the team now intends to continue its performance. “It’s something we have to continue to build on, consolidate, and then have more good weekends until the end of the year. ” emphasizes the Viennese. An opinion shared by his young pilot. “We managed to get a good result and now the important thing is to be consistent. ” confirms the Italian. A challenge to be taken up on the Singapore circuit, while the car W16 is primarily suited to cooler conditions.