Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has opened up about his performance during the Azerbaijan GP weekend, specific struggles during the race, and the much-needed confidence boost following a rather difficult European leg of the 2025 F1 campaign.
After showing promising pace in the second and third hours of practice, Antonelli managed to outpace George Russell for only the second time this season. Skilfully navigating the winding streets of Baku, he set the fourth-fastest time in qualifying in tricky conditions.
Starting Sunday’s race on a used set of mediums, Antonelli, however, was unable to find a way past Liam Lawson for P3 in the opening stint. With an antsy Russell stuck behind him, Mercedes decided to bring the rookie in at the end of Lap 18, swapping medium for hard compound tyres.
Antonelli’s breakthrough finally came at the end of Lap 21, and he breezed past Lawson on the start/finish straight with the help of DRS. Thereafter, the Italian moved up to P8 at the halfway point as he pulled ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto down the main straight.
From Lap 30 onwards, Antonelli found himself chasing the Williams of Carlos Sainz, who eventually made his first trip to the rostrum this season. Although he narrowly missed out on the final step of the podium, the 19-year-old steered well clear of the fierce battle for fifth and recorded his best result since the P3 finish in Canada.
Mixed emotions for Antonelli
Speaking in the print media pen after the F1 race, Kimi Antonelli admitted that the outcome of the Azerbaijan GP was somewhat underwhelming for him despite his solid performance throughout the race weekend. Hailing the hards as the better tyre compound, the Italian also lamented being overcut by his teammate.
“Well, it’s a little bit disappointing because the podium was so close.
“The hard tyre felt very good. Quite a bit better than the medium. The degradation on the hard was minimal. Every lap was just getting better and better. You know, it was a bit of a shame because I ended up being overcut. But I think it was a decent performance.”
Finishing just 2.561s off the podium, Antonelli explained how dirty air thwarted his attempts to close in on Sainz and hurt his tyres. Nonetheless, he was content with the team overtaking Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings and proclaimed that they seek to carry this momentum forward to the next race in Singapore.
“I was hoping for the podium, to be honest, because I almost got into DRS of Carlos [Sainz]. But then I started to struggle a bit with the dirty air, especially in the second sector. And tyres started to suffer a little bit.
“But still, you know, decent performance for the team. Because we gained quite a few points on the Constructors’. And now we try to carry this momentum into Singapore as well.”
Struggling with traction
Reflecting on his overtake on Lawson and the extent of energy deployment, Kimi Antonelli revealed that he was struggling significantly in the traction zones to execute the move during his first stint at the Azerbaijan GP.
Noting how the hard tyres finally provided him with an adequate pace advantage to pass Lawson, the Mercedes driver nevertheless reckoned that the crucial time he had lost behind the New Zealander resulted in him missing out on a podium finish.
“Yeah, I could see when he [Lawson] was using the energy and when he wasn’t.
“I was struggling quite a bit on traction. I was getting close at the end of sector one and halfway through sector two. But then in all those critical traction phases, I was struggling. And I just couldn’t get the momentum.
“Only on hard I had quite a bit of pace advantage and I could get past. But it’s a shame because I lost quite a bit of time behind him, especially in the first stint. And probably the outcome could’ve been different.
“But, you know, still a decent result. And we’ll try to do better in Singapore.”
Baku far better race than Monza for Antonelli
Asked how much better he had fared at the F1 Azerbaijan GP in comparison to the previous race at Monza, Kimi Antonelli acknowledged straight away that his performance on his home turf was rather disappointing.
Highlighting the challenges a tricky street circuit like Baku poses, the Italian conceded that he had made a couple of mistakes, albeit inconsequential, over the course of the race weekend. At the same time, noting the lack of long runs in practice and his relative unfamiliarity with the track, the 19-year-old commented that he gradually built up speed through the weekend.
“Yeah, not even to discussion. Monza was pretty poor.
“And this track is quite a bit more difficult. There was no margin of error; it was very intense. Pace was very high and, driving-wise, I did a couple of mistakes.
“But also, fair to say, it was my first time in Baku with Formula 1. And also we didn’t do any long runs in practice. So it was a bit of a discovery. Of course, for everyone as well. But, you know, still decently happy. And much better race than Monza.”
Necessary confidence boost
During the European leg of his rookie F1 campaign, the Mercedes driver struggled to tame the W16 and managed to score a total of 3 points in nine races.
In terms of whether this P4 finish in Sunday’s Azerbaijan GP gave him the much-needed turnaround in confidence, Kimi Antonelli responded, “Yeah, definitely.”
Acknowledging his setbacks, the Italian was clearly pleased to finally bring home a satisfactory result in Baku after the barrage of criticism he had received in recent times. However, he cautioned against complacency and underscored the importance of delivering such performances on a consistent basis in the remainder of the season.
“I mean, it’s been a difficult period and European season.
“And after all the criticism and difficult moments, we managed to do a good result. And now the important thing is to do this consistently.”
