Another strong result for Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, despite a wounded car he scores a lot of points again – strange: he knew nothing about the damage
Every team boss wants a driver like this: Andrea Kimi Antonelli even wins places when the race is long over!
Even at his debut in Australia, the Italian improved from fifth to fourth place after crossing the finish line because a penalty against his Mercedes team was withdrawn by the stewards. In China, Antonelli was also able to benefit retrospectively, moving up two places from eighth to sixth after both Ferrari drivers were disqualified.
And the youngest driver in the Formula One field won something else on Sunday in Shanghai: the fan vote for driver of the day. “Apparently, he was voted for by his audience, the 16- to 18-year-olds,” judges Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who adds: ‘That just goes to show what the fan demographic is like – it’s an important aspect of Formula 1 that we should be aware of.’
Wolff on Antonelli: “Significant damage to the underbody”
If it were up to the Austrian, Antonelli would also deserve a prize for his stamina on Sunday, because the Italian spent most of the race with a wounded car, “because he had significant damage to the underbody, we don’t know from what,” Wolff reveals on ServusTV: “The thing has 30 holes and various of the titanium strakes, of these baffles, are missing.”
The Mercedes team principal estimates that this has caused a loss of time of ‘around four to five tenths of a second per lap’, and explains: ”That’s why the car didn’t work right from the start.” In view of the severe impairment, Antonelli’s drive was “an impressive performance”, the Italian had “fought his way bravely” through the race, said Wolff: “He never complained, fought his way through and just did his job. This shows his potential and his maturity.”
Alone: As Antonelli himself later revealed, there was a completely different reason for this – because the rookie was simply unaware of his handicap! “No, the team probably didn’t want to tell me so I wouldn’t panic,” the 18-year-old told Sky, explaining that he only found out at the finish line “that I had damage to the underbody from lap one”.
At least Antonelli is able to shed light on where he sustained the damage: “When Leclerc lost his front wing, I ran over it with the underbody. I remember it, but at the time I didn’t think it could cause damage. But yes, it made the race more difficult for me.”
Antonelli: “I couldn’t just step on the gas”
Although Antonelli states: “I felt something was wrong from the first lap.” However, because it was the first few meters with the car in race trim, he did not make any connection with the Leclerc incident. But what he did notice: “Yesterday the front was the limiting element, especially the front left, but today I had to struggle with the rear axle – that was really unusual.”
The result: “It was extremely difficult to keep up the pace.” Conserving the rear tires and traction was also a problem, according to Antonelli: “I couldn’t just step on the gas, I always had to wait for the right moment because otherwise the car would have swerved. The damage could explain that. Without it, the race would certainly have gone differently.”
That’s why the newcomer is still eager to learn after the race: “I now want to look at the data to see where I could have done better, because the car definitely has the potential.” In any case, the pace is basically there, “George proved that with his strong performance,” says Antonelli, praising his teammate, who made it onto the podium in China in third place.
Mercedes rookie is aiming for the next step in qualifying
Meanwhile, for himself, it is still a matter of “improving and putting things together better in order to achieve a better result,” explains the Italian. He therefore views the difficulties on Sunday as an ‘important lesson and valuable experience’. It was hard not to make any mistakes, but that’s just part of it,’ says Antonelli. ‘Every weekend brings a huge learning curve.’
‘Next weekend in Japan will be another challenge, as the track is new to me. But overall, I’m happy with my development,” says the Mercedes driver, who has set himself the goal for Suzuka of focusing more on qualifying and the special way of handling the tires for the one flying lap: ‘If I manage that, I can start further forward,’ says Antonelli, ‘and then the race will look very different, of course.’
