Andrea Kimi Antonelli a bit disappointed after missing out on podium in F1 Azerbaijan GP, but he and Toto Wolff pleased with comeback after bad European races.<\/p>\n
While Mercedes\u2019 Antonelli lost out on securing a podium in F1 Azerbaijan GP to join his teammate, the Italian won a mini battle with himself. After a terrible run of races in Europe, the youngster was back fighting in front and almost had one hand on the Top 3 position.<\/p>\n
He kept teammate George Russell at bay in the first part, but lost out on strategy. He managed to clear Liam Lawson to move up to fourth then. He caught up with Carlos Sainz for third, but didn\u2019t have enough legs in the end to clear him and eventually had to settle for a good fourth.<\/p>\n
It is his best result since Canada when he finished on the podium. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit disappointing because the podium was so close,\u201d said Antonelli to media. \u201cThe hard tyre felt very good, quite a bit better than the medium. The deg on the hard was minimum. Every lap it was just getting better and better, so it was a bit of a shame because I ended up being overcut but still I think was a decent performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hoping for the podium to be honest because I got into DRS of Carlos, but then I started to struggle with the dirty air in the second sector, the tyres started to suffer a little bit but still it was a decent performance for the team. We gain quite a few points for the constructors\u2019 and now we carry this momentum into Singapore as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the battle with Liam, I could see when he was using his energy and when he wasn\u2019t. I was struggling a bit on traction, so I couldn\u2019t really\u2026I was getting close at the end of Sector 1 and through with Sector 2 but then those critical traction phases, I was struggling, just couldn\u2019t get the momentum. Only on hard I had a quite a bit of pace advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could get past but it was a shame because I lost quite a bit of time behind him especially in the first stint and the outcome could have been different but still decent result and we will try to do better in Singapore, as I said,\u201d summed up Antonelli, who felt much better than what he did in Monza, where Wolff termed his grand prix as \u2018underwhelming\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not even a question, Monza was pretty poor and this track is a bit more difficult, there was no margin of error and was just very intense,\u201d continued Antonelli. \u201cThe pace was very high and driving wise, I made couple of mistakes, but it\u2019s also fair to say that it was my first time in Baku with Formula 1 and also, we didn\u2019t do a long run in practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it was a bit of a discovery, of course, for everyone as well, but I\u2019m still decently happy and it was a much better race than Monza. Definitely, it\u2019s been a difficult time in European season and after all the criticism and difficult moments, we managed to get a good result and now the important thing is to do it consistently,\u201d summed up Antonelli.<\/p>\n
Team boss Wolff backed him for his uptrend in performance, especially after a low-key run of races in Europe. The Austrian noted about normal chats with Antonelli after Monza and not piling pressure on the youngster to deliver. \u201cIt was a really good rebound after Monza,\u201d he said to media. \u201cHe had such a difficult spell with the European races.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd coming in here with a solid P4, running in the front group, that\u2019s something to continue to build on and consolidate and then score more good weekends until the end of the year. I think, we always speak very openly with each other. There\u2019s no such thing as holding back. And for himself, he was not meeting his own expectations with what happened in Monza.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the driving just wasn\u2019t, you know, how he has expected it to be or he wanted it to be. And here, maybe there was a bit missing in ultimate performance that maybe made the difference between a podium and not. But such a good consolidation, in my opinion, was important to score that result,\u201d summed up Wolff.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s moment between two Mercedes drivers: https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/video\/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-antonelli-comes-out-on-top-in-battle-for-p4-with-russell.1843873169297033057<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s Andrea Kimi Antonelli making a move on Liam Lawson: https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/video\/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-antonelli-charges-past-lawson-for-p9.1843881308463464962<\/a><\/p>\n