Kimi Antonelli lines up sixth on the grid after a solid Qualifying performance at the F1 Italian GP. While the Mercedes driver qualified P7, Lewis Hamilton’s grid penalty bumps him up one position. The field remained incredibly close throughout the session and the rookie had a narrow gap to his teammate ahead of him. George Russell, finishing sixth, was only 0.043 s ahead of Antonelli.
The Qualifying was immensely tense as the Temple of Speed kept the cars close together. In Q1, Antonelli in P11 was only one tenth away from Yuki Tsunoda in P4. With narrow margins, timing became important.
Similarly, the Monza track comes with plenty challenges, making grid position crucial for Sunday’s race. While the Italian driver has suffered a rough couple of races lately, with retirements and rookie mistakes, this weekend could be a turning point in his season. It gears up to be a strong race weekend for Antonelli as FP1 and FP3 saw him in the top ten, before he secured P7 in Qualifying.
A battle for the top five
Last time the Italian was on home turf, the Emila-Romagna Grand Prix left the rookie devastated as he suffered a retirement. While the heartbreak was the result of a mechanical failure outside of his control, it was still a challenge as it was his first home race as a Formula 1 driver. For the second race in Italy, Antonelli insists on a proper battle for redemption on home soil.
When speaking in the media pen post-qualifying, the Mercedes rookie explained that while it was difficult, the result was solid.
“Definitely a much better qualifying. It was very tight, was not easy out there, but I think overall it was a decent job. Last lap was not great, there was more on the table. I struggled with the rear quite a bit. Also, we tried something a little bit different with the tyre temperature, and I struggled a little bit the first part of the lap. I think on my side, I could have done a little bit better as well, but still P6 for tomorrow so we cannot complain too much.”
The rookie continued on to be asked if he could attack and fight in the race, and responded optimistically, stating:
“Hopefully we can fight for a top five. Race pace has been strong lately, so hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow. But, yeah really looking forward to that tomorrow.”
With both Mercedes cars in the top six, the team appears ready to battle the other top teams. Despite the strong pace of the cars ahead, the Italian will undoubtably give it his all to achieve a better result than last time out in Italy.
