Antonelli rues grip on C6 for his struggles in qualifying
Despite racing on home turf for the first time in his F1 career, Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start from only P13 on the grid following a tough qualifying session at Imola.
In final practice, George Russell complained about the setup of his W16, and he looked to struggle for one-lap performance. However, the Briton appeared to be more comfortable in his car in qualifying, and he did enough to make Q3 without taking any risks.
Replicating what Aston Martin did in Q2, Mercedes sent Russell out on a set of mediums in the final qualifying segment, and it worked a treat as he jumped the McLaren of Norris into P3.
His team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished at the lower end of the leaderboard on Friday, but he finally found his mojo in final practice. However, the Bologna-born driver struggled to get the best out of the C6 tyre, exiting in Q2 at his home track, and he will start today’s Imola round from P13 on the grid.
"I am obviously a bit disappointed to qualify P13 for Sunday’s race. I really struggled to put everything together in my single laps on the Soft tyre and it just did not feel quite right,” Antonelli started his assessment.
“It was really tricky to get the tyres in the right window; I didn’t quite have enough grip, and I really struggled to get into a good rhythm.
Despite his strong race simulation, he downplayed his chances for the race: “It is a real challenge to overtake on this track so P13 is not ideal.
“From what we experienced in practice though, I know that our long runs are strong. Hopefully we can utilise that pace to make up some positions and get into the points.
“We will be looking for any opportunities that may fall our way too. If we can take advantage of them, then we can still have a good afternoon. It is a shame to end today outside of the top 10 but the atmosphere has still been incredible. We will work hard overnight and come back stronger tomorrow."
