Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes could have challenged for a higher starting position in Malaysia for Round 16 of the 2026 F1 season if not for his track-limits mistake in Q2, but remains satisfied with his recovery in Qualifying to secure fourth on the grid.
Antonelli entered Q3 having used an additional set of tyres in qualifying 2 after his track limits error left him with only one fresh set available for the final session.
Despite the disadvantage, the Mercedes driver still managed to qualify fourth, with Max Verstappen taking pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the F1 qualifying session in Malaysia, Antonelli admitted the mistake had cost him a stronger position on the grid.
“For sure. It’s a shame for the mistake, but all in all, I think, honestly, with a clean qualifying, without the track limit, maybe P2, P3 on the road would have been possible,” Antonelli explained.
“Because obviously with only one set [of tyres], Q3 is never easy, especially with the track cooling down.”
Antonelli nevertheless credited Verstappen for his performance, while also noting Ferrari’s improvement from FP3 when they were 0.7s away.
“But, yeah, Max today did an incredible job and was very quick,” he continued.
“And also Ferrari, you know, they made a huge step compared to FP3. So, yeah, obviously, still, all in all, we have to be happy, because it could have been much worse and we’ll focus on tomorrow.”
Antonelli to start in P3 with Hadjar’s grid penalty
With the Italian showing strong pace on Saturday in Malaysia, Antonelli will start in on the second row in P3, behind Verstappen and Hamilton at the front of the grid, with Hadjar’s grid penalty dropping him to P8.
Looking ahead to the Grand Prix, Antonelli expects Verstappen to hold an advantage on race pace, while Ferrari could also become involved in the battle.
““Yeah, for sure. I think it’s going to be interesting. However, I think Max still has a little bit the edge on pace. And also the Ferrari looks pretty strong,” Antonelli said.
“So, it’s going to be tight, you know, and tomorrow the deg is going to be huge.”
Managing tyre temperatures and degradation will therefore be a key factor for Antonelli, who expects the race to provide a very different challenge to qualifying.
“So, it’s going to be important to manage those temperatures, those tyres and try to bring home and try to do the best result as possible,” he added.
Despite starting from third, Antonelli remains focused on fighting for the win if the opportunity presents itself.
“If we can win, we’ll go for it. If we have to settle for a P2 or P3, we’ll do that.”
