Antonelli reveals why he struggled over a qualifying lap at Imola and Monaco
Despite his maiden F1 pole position at the Miami F1 Sprint, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled to display strong qualifying pace at Imola and Monaco. The Italian claimed that his struggles were down to Pirelli's softest compound which has been introduced recently.
On the back of an impressive start to the 2025 F1 season, Mercedes endured a tough weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix. Andrea Kimi Antonelli made a mistake in qualifying, touching the guardrails at the harbour which sent his Mercedes into the walls.
His team-mate George Russell looked in fine form in qualifying after his struggles across the practice sessions, but a technical issue saw him end up 14th on the grid.
From these lowly starting positions, Mercedes were always going to endure a tough time on the twisty and narrow streets of the Principality, but the introduction of the mandatory two-stop strategy and the tactical games saw Russell and Antonelli lose any chances of scoring points on Sunday.
The Briton was even handed a drive-through penalty for cutting the track and gaining a lasting advantage, but with Antonelli holding up their direct rivals, Russell was able to complete the penalty and the two mandatory stop without losing any position.
Ultimately, the Briton finished the Monaco race in P11 while the Bologna-born driver completed his first F1 appearance in the Principality in P18.
Despite his maiden F1 pole position at the Miami F1 Sprint, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled to display strong qualifying pace at Imola and Monaco. The Italian claimed that his struggles were down to Pirelli's softest compound which has been introduced recently.
"I am disappointed with today’s result but that was ultimately not a surprise having qualified P15 yesterday. It was not the most exciting race we’ve ever done, and the strategy didn’t work out in our favour.
"I tried to be aggressive in the beginning of the race, to gain as many positions as possible. I made a move on Bortoleto before the tunnel; I had the pace and went for it and was able to move up one place.
"After that, we tried to play the long game but other midfield teams like Racing Bulls and Williams were running their own race and we found ourselves in a train, way off the pace, with no possibilities to overtake.
"Despite the disappointing result, Monaco has been another good learning weekend for me. I struggled a lot on the C6 tyre compound, just like in Imola, and struggled to get the single laps in. I am happy to head to Barcelona now where we will be on the harder tyre compounds that I know well," concluded the Italian.
