Mercedes reveal how "overnight simulator work" contributed to Antonelli's Monaco pole

Mercedes enjoyed both elation and frustration in Monaco as Andrea Kimi Antonelli delivered a sensational pole position while George Russell struggled to extract confidence from the W17, leaving the team with a mixed but intriguing outlook heading into Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Antonelli’s blistering 1:12.051 lap — his fourth career pole — capped a dominant day in which he became the first driver to break the 1m13s barrier in FP3. Russell, meanwhile, could only manage sixth, nearly four tenths behind his teammate.

Team boss Toto Wolff and Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin offered detailed insight into the session, praising Antonelli’s brilliance while acknowledging the challenges on Russell’s side of the garage.

Toto Wolff was quick to highlight the significance of Antonelli’s achievement — not just for the driver, but for Mercedes’ broader Monaco history.

“That was an exciting qualifying session and a fantastic lap by Kimi to take pole position. There were many challengers, including the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, but Kimi found something extra when it mattered and delivered with full commitment.”

The pole also broke a long drought for the team at the Principality: “It’s been seven years since we’ve been on pole position here and historically, we’ve not been very strong in Monaco. That makes today’s result even more special.”

But Wolff also addressed the other side of the garage, where Russell’s difficulties continued: “On George’s side, he has just not been as comfortable in the car this weekend.

"He has not felt the grip and therefore not had the confidence to push as much as you need to. That is particularly challenging in Monaco where confidence is one of the most important factors for unlocking lap time.”

Despite the struggles, Wolff expressed full faith in his driver: “We know the ability he has though and it is only a matter of time before he bounces back. He has a great group of people around him and everyone is fully behind him. We’re supporting him every step of the way, and we’re confident he’ll come back stronger.”

Andrew Shovlin provided a deeper technical breakdown of how Mercedes turned a difficult Friday into a pole‑winning Saturday.

“Well done to Kimi and the team on a well‑deserved Monaco pole position. It is by far the hardest session of the year to navigate but he did a great job of building sensibly throughout and then saving the best until last with a brilliant final lap.”

He revealed that overnight simulator work played a key role in stabilising the car: "After our struggles on Friday, we had engineers working overnight on the simulator and they found a useful direction that gave the car a bit more stability and predictability.

"FP3 started well and George was immediately on the pace. Soon both drivers were setting decent lap times and reporting that the balance had improved. We therefore did very little to the cars going into qualifying.”

But as the session unfolded, the two drivers’ experiences diverged sharply: “On the early laps, both struggled with the circuit having lost a bit of grip and we had a generally messy balance.

"As the track improved, so did the car for Kimi and by the latter stages he looked like he was in the mix. Unfortunately for George it was an uphill struggle with the tyres never feeling like they were really biting.”

Shovlin confirmed the team will investigate why two nearly identical setups produced such different sensations.

“We're trying to understand why such similar set‑ups yielded such different feeling for the two drivers and will work through that in the days to come.”

With Antonelli starting from the front and Russell from sixth, Mercedes face a strategic challenge in a race where track position is everything.

“For now, we need to turn our attentions to the race tomorrow. Starting from pole is only the first step to achieving a good result at Monaco. It's always a long and unpredictable race and there are many situations that we need to protect against if we can win tomorrow.”

Shovlin made the team’s priorities clear: “Clearly the goal will be to move George up the field and keep Kimi where he is, but in Monaco that's often easier said than done.”