Kimi Antonelli arrives at the race weekend with renewed confidence in his driving style following a strong result in Baku, a performance he feels was crucial for shifting his season’s momentum.
The driver discussed how that result has set a new standard for his preparation, the significant role of simulator development, and the complex challenge of adapting his natural driving style to the sensitive and “unpredictable” nature of the current generation of Formula 1 cars.
Baku performance was a “needed” momentum shift
Reflecting on his last race, Antonelli explained that the result in Baku was a critical turning point after a difficult start to the season. He stated it was essential for reversing a negative trend and setting a new benchmark for performance.
Antonelli said, “Well yeah, definitely Baku was definitely what I needed in terms of result because it kind of switched the momentum and also it kind of switched the trend.” He added.
“Obviously I had a negative trend up until there and I really needed a good result. Now the goal is to do these results consistently and try to perform even better.”
While he admitted to feeling initial frustration at narrowly missing out on a podium finish, he ultimately views the weekend as a significant positive. “I was really annoyed after the race because I really wanted podium and I was just so close for the whole race,” Antonelli commented.
“But overall after a couple of days I looked back at the whole weekend and I think it was very positive. And I think also in terms of approach and preparation was a good standard.”
Simulator development providing a “clear direction”
A key factor in his recent success has been the team’s developing simulator programme, which Antonelli feels is becoming increasingly valuable.
He highlighted that the work done before the race weekend was instrumental in establishing a setup direction, allowing them to be competitive from the start.
“Every time we try to make it closer to real life, every time it gets closer to what the real car is doing,” he explained. “I think we did that for Baku as well, and I think it was really useful because on the setup for the whole weekend we always had a very clear direction of where to go because we did the work before that on the sim and we knew we could rely on that.”
Taming an “aggressive” style for an “unpredictable” car
The biggest challenge for Antonelli remains adapting his inherent driving style to the unique characteristics of the current F1 cars.
He described his natural tendency as “quite aggressive,” a style that involves throwing the car into the corners, but noted this approach is not always compatible with today’s machinery.
“I still feel I cannot drive the car the way I want,” Antonelli stated. “It seems like with this generation of cars, you can’t really do that because maybe of the way the aerodynamics work, the tyres, these cars are very sensitive to wind.”
He elaborated on the car’s knife-edge limit, describing it as incredibly high but unforgiving. “The limit is so high that once you pass it, there’s no way, it flips… the car is just super unpredictable, really, really hard to control it,” he said.
Ultimately, Antonelli is focused on a more nuanced approach with driving style in F1. He is learning to moderate his aggressive inputs to suit what the car can handle in different situations. “What I’m trying to work on is adjusting a little bit my driving style and not changing completely because in some corner, the car can take it, but in other corners, it cannot,” he concluded.
“So, it’s about trying to understand the moment where you can ask the car more… it’s still not fully natural but I’m, you know, so far I’m doing the steps in the right way.”
