Kimi Antonelli fell short in Q3 during a tightly fought qualifying session at the F1 Dutch GP, ultimately finishing 11th. The Mercedes rookie had shown encouraging pace across the weekend. However, a small mistake in the final chicane ended his chances of advancing.
Small margins in qualifying
Antonelli was set for Q3 before being knocked out by Fernando Alonso. Reflecting on his lap and the challenging conditions, he admitted a mistake at the chicane cost him dearly.
“Yeah, I was feeling pretty ok in the car, obviously it was pretty tight out there. I did a little mistake in the chicane, obviously it was pretty gusty out there, so sometimes it was easy to get caught by it. I just did a little mistake, I locked up slightly in the chicane and then lost roughly one tenth and that cost me Q3, but it’s a shame because obviously I was feeling better today in the car.”
The Italian summed up his feelings by saying, “Yeah, I mean it definitely was a shame to miss it by so little and I did a little mistake and that’s why I got knocked out, so obviously it’s a shame. But yeah, it was super tight, to be honest. I felt pretty decent in the car, so yeah, now we look forward to tomorrow.”
FP1 crash limits preparation
Antonelli’s weekend began with a FP1 crash, which forced him to retire and limited his preparation. He finished 12th in FP2 and 17th in FP3, struggling to find a consistent rhythm due to the earlier setback.
“Yeah, definitely, I think the weekend was pretty much compromised by the FP1, and you know, especially because I went off so early on in the session and in the laps and then I was a step behind, because also I had to do a long run this morning in FP3 which is never ideal. But I had to do it because I couldn’t do it yesterday with the FP1 crash, so yeah, it was a shame…”
The Zandvoort weather added an extra layer of difficulty, with a dusty circuit causing low grip and uncertainty. Drivers had to adapt quickly to changing conditions, and even minor errors could be costly. “I mean it was pretty gusty, so it was a bit of an unknown out there. In the chicane, I broke a little too late and then I compromised the exit, so that was the mistake which caused the Q3,” he explained.
Race outlook
Antonelli knows that limited long run experience may make the F1 Dutch GP a learning curve.
“It’s tricky because I didn’t do much long running, so it’s going to be a bit learning tomorrow in the race, trying to adapt as much as possible, but yeah, I’ll try to go through data and see how my long run this morning was compared to the others, and then I’ll try to be ready for tomorrow.”
His adaptability will be crucial in a race where overtaking is difficult and strategy will play a key role. However, despite these challenges, he remains confident about his pace.
“Yeah, definitely, I mean the pace in FP3 felt pretty good, so hopefully tomorrow we can move forward. We’ll see with the strategy what we can do, but on my side I’ll try to do my best.”
