Kimi Antonelli has been having a good season so far. As a rookie at Mercedes, the 19-year-old has already found himself a podium win in Canada. This weekend is looking pretty promising for the youngest rookie on track as he got himself to P2 in the Qualifying ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. He is the third-youngest driver ever to start from the front row.
Behind Norris again
Going into the weekend, the weather was known to be the biggest upcoming challenge at the F1 São Paulo GP. From rainy conditions to strong gusts of wind, Antonelli was able to fair well amidst the weather warnings. He came second in the Sprint and P2 in Qualifying behind McLaren’s Lando Norris both times.
The rookie is a bit annoyed that he couldn’t improve up to P1. Overall, however, he is happy to be so high up ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. He is locked in on getting a good start and setting a good pace early on in the race tomorrow.
“Yeah, to be fair, I’m a bit annoyed I’m again behind him. I mean, we’re so close this morning in the Sprint as well but it was a very tricky session with the wind.
“Very tricky to put a lap together but still managed in the last run to put a decent lap, and yeah, happy with that. Starting P2 tomorrow. Of course, they’re very fast, so it’s going to be important to get a good start and try to set a good pace.”
Windy weather made no difference
Antonelli mentions the struggle against the wind, even on his best lap in Q3 of the Qualifying. He locked up in the last proper corner, Juncao, but he says that Norris would’ve still been faster. The Italian driver is not being too critical of his mistakes and continues to look at the opportunities to do better ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“Yeah, it was a very tricky session. To be honest the wind was not the best today — it was a bit more of a pain in the ass around the lap, to be fair. But still, the last lap in Q3 was quite decent.
“I locked up a little bit the rear in the last corner, but despite that little mistake, I don’t think it would have been — Lando would have still been fastest. So yeah, just not the perfect lap, but still good for P2 and we have a good opportunity tomorrow.”
The dirty air
Focusing on the race, Antonelli mentions that the pace was strong despite the cold and is expecting that this weather will continue to be an advantage for him in the Mercedes. He is weary of being behind, race leader, Lando Norris due to the reduced downforce and grip from dirty air. He will be sure to keep fighting for a winning race at the F1 São Paulo GP.
“Yeah, definitely. The pace this morning was really strong. It was also quite cold and tomorrow should be kind of the same. So maybe that can help us a little bit more. But, you know, running in dirty air is never easy. Hopefully, we can have a strong pace and put pressure on them and hopefully we can fight for the win.”
Mercedes’ Italian driver has been keeping a close eye on other drivers and their performance off the line this season. He mentions that the starting position can have a major impact on his race but he will continue to maintain a level-head. Antonelli is aware that rookies often try to do too much and so he is keeping his expectations simple ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“Well, we’ve seen many races so far this season that the start and track position can play a massive role for the rest of the race. Of course, Lando has been starting very strong recently, so we need something exceptional. But on my side, I just try to do a normal start, not try to do too much, and then at least hold position. Then we’ll see from there.”
Enjoying the press
Antonelli seems to be enjoying the spotlight after a great Qualifying at the F1 São Paulo GP. When asked about changes to the car between the Sprint and Qualifying, he jokes that Mercedes went back to Monza to make changes.
On a serious note, he confirms that there were no changes made between the Sprint and qualifying. The wind changed from Friday to Saturday, but he finds there is no point in making drastic changes. The weather will go back to Friday conditions ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“So much. We went also to Monza — no, I’m joking. To be honest, we didn’t change it, if I have to be fair, because tomorrow the way the wind is going to change again — it’s going to go back to what it was on Friday. So, yeah, to be fair, we didn’t change anything.”
Antonelli continues to joke around, when Leclerc and the Brit were asked to give advice to the young rookie. He interjects, “To stay behind, probably!”
Excitement of Brazil
On the topic of the Brazilian crowd, Antonelli gives lots of thanks for their support and energy. He is buzzing with their excitement as he is already counting points to bring home for the team. He is really looking forward to compounding the high of both the Sprint and the Qualifying. Hopefully the excitement will multiply at the F1 São Paulo GP tomorrow.
“Yeah, I mean, racing in Brazil has been incredible so far. The support has been incredible from the Brazilian fans and definitely that gave me a little bit of extra energy every time I go on track. It’s been amazing.
“Also this track, to be honest, it’s really special, really fun to drive, and yeah, I’m happy with it. Now we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s race because it would be good to finish the weekend on a high and bring home good points.”
Tempting Tyre strategy
His Mercedes teammate, took a unique tyre strategy to Q3 and was the only driver to do so. Russell started Q3 on C4 (softs) but switched to C3 (mediums) for his final run. Though Antonelli considered it, he says there was very little difference between the tyres ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. He compares his drive on C3 (mediums) during the Sprint and realizes that the grip was better and more robust.
“No, we definitely thought about putting the Medium in qualifying because even yesterday, the Medium felt basically the same as the Soft. The jump from Medium to Soft was very little.
“Also today in the Sprint, the Medium felt better than the Soft — even in the first few laps, the grip just felt better, the tyre felt more robust, especially throughout the whole lap. So definitely, we had a thought about it because we thought that there was not much of a gap.
Ultimately, Antonelli chose to stick to the C4 (softs) as a strategical call. He was thinking ahead and saved the C3 (mediums) for his front row start ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. Given the good result in Qualifying, he is confident he made the right decision and stands by it.
“But I thought as well that because I felt good on the Soft, I thought it would be better to keep it for tomorrow. Obviously, we have the new tyres, so that’s good — especially for the start. So I think that was the right choice in the end.”
High stakes to claim
Antonelli reflects back on his season when thinking about how important the F1 São Paulo GP will be for the bigger picture. He realizes that the predictions didn’t match the results they got in previous circuits. Where they thought they would do well, they didn’t and vice versa.
He sounds surprised by the Qualifying result ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. He does take note that Mercedes isn’t the only one to get unexpected results.
“Well, the funny thing is that in all the tracks where we were meant to be good this year, we were not so good. And in the tracks where we weren’t expected to be good, we were good. So it’s unexpected. You see, there’s some weekends where the VCARB or the Haas, they’re extremely quick, so you never know.
The rookie is quite astute in realizing that there is a pattern to the chaos of his season. The Mercedes car does better in cold temperatures than hot. He is hoping that the F1 São Paulo GP will be a success due to the chilly conditions. He is also looking ahead at Vegas for similar results.
“But of course in Vegas, with the cold temperature, definitely it should help the car. We saw also this year that usually with cold temperature the car behaves better than with hot temperature. So hopefully, we can have the same pace in Vegas. Definitely as a team, we’ll try to do everything that they did last year in order to have a better opportunity to achieve the same performance somehow.
Every point matters
The Italian driver is currently seventh in the World Drivers’ Championship and is separated from his teammate in fourth by the two Ferrari drivers. He is keeping a close watch out for them as he aims move past them in the WDC by gaining crucial points ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
Antonelli’s reasoning for gaining points is two-fold as he wants to help his teammate secure third in the WDC. He plans on keeping Red Bull from gaining any more points as Verstappen is just ahead of Russell in the WDC ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“Tomorrow, yeah, definitely it’s a massive opportunity. I think it’s going to be important to try and finish ahead of the Ferrari, to outscore them, because obviously the fight is very tight. And also, on Red Bull we can score big, big points. So definitely that’s the goal.
“That’s why tomorrow is going to be important to set a good pace, to try and put pressure — but at the same time, to try and achieve the best result possible that is possible in the moment. So definitely a massive opportunity, and that’s why as a team we’ll try to do our best in order to do so.”
Antonelli knows this weekend is very important for him and the team. He will do everything in his power to capitalize on the opportunity he has ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
