Kimi Antonelli admits Dutch ‘wake-up call’ in championship fight
Kimi Antonelli has described the Dutch GP as a 'wake-up call'
ZANDVOORT – Kimi Antonelli has insisted that he is not feeling the pressure in the Formula 1 title race, despite admitting that the Dutch GP weekend has proven to be a “wake-up call”.
Antonelli came into this weekend holding a sizeable 50-point advantage over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, having registered six victories in 11 races prior to the summer break.
Kimi Antonelli explains Dutch GP ‘wake-up call’
The Italian has endured a more troublesome time at Zandvoort, though, with damage to the floor of his Mercedes from a visit through the gravel during Sprint Qualifying contributing to him being limited to a disappointing fifth in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
But while he rebounded to log an improved result in Grand Prix Qualifying, Antonelli rued a cautious opening to his last lap in Q3 costing him a better run at pole position as he propped up third quickest, 0.133 seconds down on pole-sitter Lando Norris in the McLaren and a mere 31 thousandths behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
“Just struggling with the balance, to be fair, throughout the whole session,” Antonelli told PlanetF1 and accredited media. “Mainly Sector 3, was struggling in the chicane.
“And then just made a couple of changes and the feeling came back. But obviously, in the last lap I did a mistake in Sector 1. Took it a bit too easy seeing the rain on the visor and just, yeah, was a really poor Sector 1.
“And [it’s a] shame because I think we had a shot for pole, but still starting P3 tomorrow and all to play for.”
Antonelli was still relieved to secure a starting place on the second row, however, citing that he had to rebuild his confidence after his earlier error in Sprint Qualifying.
“I mean, to be fair, in FP1 I felt very good,” he recounted. “Then obviously yesterday in quali I did a mistake, and that definitely took some confidence away.
“Also, today in qualifying, mainly because the feeling was not really there with the car, I still struggled to find my rhythm and to put the lap times together. But luckily in Q3 we were able to put things a bit more together and to be on the second row.”
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And Antonelli, who could become F1’s youngest-ever champion, has repudiated the notion that the mistakes are a sign that he is beginning to crack under the pressure.
“No, I don’t feel any extra pressure,” he retorted. “But it was a very good wake-up call this weekend, that you can never lower your guard because when you do that… I did a mistake yesterday and today I did a mistake in Q3.
“So, it’s not that I’m driving more tense or anything, but I just feel this weekend is a good wake-up call, and to just again put things in the right place at the right time and just deliver the result when it counts.”
Reporting by Taylor Powling, additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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