Despite running in fourth place until the dying minutes of last Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli lost out to McLaren driver Lando Norris, having made a mistake on the penultimate lap.
On the back of a strong display on Saturday, Mercedes found itself in a different situation on Sunday at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli made a good start and found himself fourth in the early stages. However, he lost out to the Williams driver Carlos Sainz in the first round of pit stops and was unable to recover it as the Spaniard displayed an unexpectedly strong race pace.
After Lando Norris completed his second mandatory stop, Antonelli gained a place and appeared to be able to absorb the pressure from the McLaren driver, but he made one late mistake which allowed the championship leader to slip through.
His team-mate George Russell suffered a bad start which saw him drop to seventh behind Sainz and Fernando Alonso. The Briton lost position during the hectic first round of pit stops as he was held up by pit lane traffic.
Despite his stellar performance in the 19-lap Sprint on Saturday, Russell was unable to overtake the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar on his own, but he inherited a place when the Frenchman retired late on due to a puncture.
Reflecting on his race inn Qatar, Antonelli added: “P5 is solid points today but we could have had much more. We were slightly unlucky at the first pitstop where we lost a position to the Williams of Carlos Sainz; we had a slower stop and had to hold as traffic passed us in the fast lane.
“That delayed us leaving the pit box and ultimately, that is what changed our race and denied us the chance to fight for the podium. We were stuck behind him for the rest of the afternoon, and it was impossible to attempt an overtake.”
Explaining his mistake on the penultimate lap of the 57-lap Qatar Grand Prix, Antonelli admitted that he was pushing “a little bit too hard” which led to his error.
“I was pushing hard to stay ahead of Norris in the closing stages and unfortunately just pushed a little bit too hard. I got out of shape through turn nine and then had a massive snap of oversteer. I was lucky to save the car but sadly dropped the position to the McLaren.
“It was a frustrating and disappointing way to end what had been a good race up to that point. We will focus on Abu Dhabi now though and look to secure P2 in the Constructors’ with a strong performance to end my rookie season.”