Qualifying was not easy for Kimi Antonelli, who struggled to extract the level of performance he is accustomed to from his Mercedes machines. Finishing five tenths behind polesitter Max Verstappen, he stood in front of the microphones thinking he was indeed fourth on the grid. But thanks to a one-place grid penalty for Isack Hadjar ahead of him, he was promoted to third. This provoked a brilliant reaction from the Italian.
Speaking to Formula 1 in the pen after the session, the championship leader begins his interview looking a little deflated. That’s the body language of a disappointed guy after what has been a very impressive sophomore season of his career thus far. But journalist Lawrence Barretto mentions that he still starts the race in a solid position: P3.
Antonelli responded before his brain had completely caught up with what had just been said to him.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s… you know, definitely… Oh wait, am I starting P3 tomorrow?” A smile spread across his face.
“Yeah. You get the Hadjar penalty,” Barretto replied, realizing the driver wasn’t aware of it.
“Oh! Oh, it’s not too bad!” Antonelli chirped.
Hadjar’s grid penalty comes from using his seventh internal combustion engine so far this season. For Antonelli, this small improvement in his result is good news after having struggled during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where he crashed in Q1. But even then, the driver would have to settle for fifth place after starting 16th.
But how does he think Sunday’s race will go?
“I think it’s a race where pace is even more important,” he said. “I still believe that Red Bull has the advantage in terms of pace and Ferrari is very close. But we will do our best. I think track position is going to be very important and we will try to manage these tires in the best possible way and then try to… if we can fight for victory, great. If we have to settle for P2 or P3, we will accept it.
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