Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli dedicated his qualifying track time to try to help teammate George Russell fight for pole in the F1 2026 Italian GP. The hometown hero was already set to start the race from the back after taking a power unit penalty.
Even though the young Italian topped Q2, by the last session he went out on team orders to tow Russell. Antonelli stayed on used tyres and tried to help the Brit. However, George Russell was surprisingly bested by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who scored his maiden pole.
Although he crossed the chequered flag in P7, Antonelli will start the Sunday race in P20. Just ahead of Albon and Lawson who also took on engine-related penalties.
“It is a very weird feeling,” says Antonelli on his Qualifying mission
After the session, Kimi Antonelli discussed how odd it felt to go out on track without aiming to go fast. He did one lap on his own without a slipstream, before helping his British stablemate out.
“Yeah, obviously it is a very weird feeling. But I had to do my job, which was to help George. And you know, I tried my best to help as much as possible.
“Of course, Q3 was very weird. Even the lap I did, it was an okay lap, but nothing special.”
The young driver explained: “Because I had anyway more fuel in the car than what you normally would have. And also I didn’t want to do any mistakes that would compromise the program that we had planned, which was to give the slipstream to George in the last lap as well.”
“So, you know, obviously mixed feelings, but it’s what it is, and we’re ready to fight tomorrow.”
Antonelli was also asked about the poor rear visibility that Lewis Hamilton talked about. He agreed with having to rely on his race engineer, Bono, for communication.
“Yeah, of course. And also the problem is that in a cool-down lap it’s really hard to build boost. So it was quite stressful letting by the whole group with no boost,” he explained.
“In some places I was going really slowly and I had to do really odd lines in order not to get in someone’s way, so I think that was much more stressful than giving the tow to George.”
Antonelli on Verstappen’s try to get between him and Russell
In the last moments of Q3, Antonelli and Russell were set to work together to hand the Brit the best possible slipstream. Yet, as they reached the end of the lap, before the Parabolica corner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen tried to interfere. The Dutch driver reduced his speed considerably and ensured Antonelli was too close to Russell to be able to give him a tow on the second flying lap.
When asked about Verstappen’s strategy to get between both Mercedes, Antonelli said: “Yes, he did try, but I was very strictly told not to pass.
“So yeah, obviously it was a bit tricky. Because I was a bit in the middle; I didn’t really know what to do,” lamented the young Italian.“But then I stayed behind and, yeah, just tried to give George the best tow as possible.”
“We are all aligned on this,” says Antonelli about cooperation between teammates
Finally, Kimi Antonelli was questioned on whether Russell would also sacrifice his Qualifying when he needs to replace his power unit. The Italian quickly answered: “Yeah, yeah, of course. We are all aligned on this.”
He also pointed out how George Russell had let him through on team orders by the end of the last race. “You know, as he has been a good also team player in Zandvoort.
“I did what the team asked me here. And I’m happy that it worked out. So, yeah, of course that when it’s going to be his turn, we are going to talk about it.
“We’re very clear on that. When we can, we will help each other, especially in this kind of situation, because I had nothing to win and he was fighting for pole.”
Antonelli will need to fight his way up the grid on Sunday. The Mercedes driver aims to get some good points in his home race to defend his championship lead. As it stands, Antonelli is first with 242 points, while Russell is P2 and Hamilton P3, both tied with 183 points.
