Kimi Antonelli believes that the choice to cede his Mercedes to a young driver during FP1 in Hungary deprived him of valuable preparation time on a particularly tricky circuit.
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Kimi Antonelli reflected on one of the decisions that, according to him, weighed on his weekend in Hungary. The Mercedes driver believes he probably didn’t choose the best round of the season to miss the first free practice session.
In accordance with Formula 1 regulations, each team must entrust its single-seaters to young drivers during several FP1 sessions throughout the season. In Hungary, Mercedes had thus placed Dane Fred Vesti in Antonelli’s W17.
After qualifying, the championship leader admitted that this choice had probably put him at a disadvantage.
“I think I probably didn’t choose the best Grand Prix to miss FP1, because the conditions were much more difficult than expected.”
Conditions much more complicated than expected
The Hungaroring proved particularly tricky to navigate this weekend, with a dusty track, strong winds, and asphalt offering little grip at times.
Antonelli believes that an extra hour of running would have allowed him to better understand the behavior of his Mercedes.
“The car was much more difficult to drive. It really wasn’t ideal, as FP1 would undoubtedly have allowed me to work better on the setup, start from a better base, and have better reference points.”
The young Italian also thinks he lacked time to get back into his rhythm behind the wheel.
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“It would also have helped me get back into the driving rhythm faster. So it wasn’t the ideal situation, but at least I won’t have to worry about this obligation anymore this season.”
Regrets despite a good qualifying
Despite these difficulties, Antonelli managed to fight at the front during qualifying.
The Mercedes driver, however, believes he let some performance slip away on his final fast lap.
“My last sector before the final corner was very bad and I knew there was time to be gained there. It’s a shame, but these things happen.”
According to him, this would have allowed him to gain a place, without, however, being able to compete with Lando Norris.
“We would certainly have finished third, but that wouldn’t have been enough to secure pole. We would still have been seven or eight hundredths off, which is still quite surprising, especially given our level at the end of Q2.”
A penalty that worsens his weekend
Since these statements, Antonelli’s situation has become even more complicated.
The stewards imposed a three-place grid penalty on him for not slowing down enough under yellow flags after Max Verstappen’s spin at the end of Q3.
The Mercedes driver will therefore start seventh in the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite having initially secured fourth place in qualifying.
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