Italian driver Kimi Antonelli had a superb debut at the F1 Australian GP as the Mercedes youngster finished P4 on Sunday afternoon in mixed conditions, and he admits it has made him more relaxed ahead of the Chinese GP.
Kimi Antonelli discusses his move on Alex Albon in the closing laps of the Australian GP
In the closing stages, the 18-year-old in his Mercedes made a tidy pass on Alex Albon in the Williams into the high speed turn 9 as DRS was still enabled on the inters, moving him into P4.
Asked if he had planned it out in his Chinese GP print media session, Kimi Antonelli said it was very much an overtake that happened in the moment.
“Well, the decision of making the move there, I have to be honest, it happened in the moment, because obviously I tried the lap before, but I was a bit too far behind, and I didn’t really get the full run to get alongside him.
“And then that lap, when I saw that I could actually get alongside him, I said, ‘I’m going for it’. Because also, in those couple of laps I spent behind him, I could see in 9 and 10 we were quite a bit stronger than him.
“I knew I could afford to brake later and stick to the move and still be able to be safe out of the chicane.
“So everything happened so quick, to be honest, in the moment, but really happy that the move went well.
“And yeah, that was good.”
The extra belief and confidence Melbourne has given Kimi Antonelli heading into the F1 Chinese GP
Qualifying had been extremely disappointing for the Italian youngster. He was P16 in Q1 as damage meant he missed out on the second segment of qualifying, and a likely berth in Q3.
In the wet conditions of Albert Park, Antonelli put on a show. As well as overtaking the Saubers, Stroll and Albon his way to P4, he made a great save on the opening lap.
He drove a very mature, clean race from there. Great timing on the stop to switch from inters back to dries helped him jumped a number of cars as well.
Kimi Antonelli says it was a big help for his confidence, and it has taken some of the pressure and nerves away ahead of the F1 Chinese GP.
“Yeah, definitely.
“I mean, it was a really good boost of confidence. I feel also more relaxed now.
“I’m not going to lie, for my first week, I was a bit stressed, I was a bit nervous because everything was new.
“But a race like that really helps your confidence and to relax you as well.
“The conditions were so tricky out there. The track was very slippery, especially at the start, because the tyres were cold. And obviously with all those white lines, it makes the grip very low.
“So definitely conditions were really tricky, but really happy how I managed and also how the team managed.
“And also they’ve been really guiding me throughout the whole race in the best way as possible.
“So definitely a good boost of confidence. Not too much, but I feel better ahead of this weekend.”
The ultimate challenge for Kimi Antonelli on his F1 debut
Rain, mixed conditions, starting near the back, pure chaos: the debut race for Mercedes driver Antonelli will be remembered forever.
The Italian says it was a great way to start his career as so many things were thrown at him last weekend, but particularly during the race at Albert Park.
He says learning how to come through the pack was also very important for the future.
“Yeah, definitely [great experience to get].
“I think last weekend was a really good experience. Everything was a really good experience.
“Obviously, qualifying was disappointing for the result. But I think also, starting from the back, it really taught me a lot, also to see and to know how I have to behave in order to progress.
“I’m not going to lie, at the start I was a bit nervous, because starting from the back in the rain, many, many things can happen. But it was a good experience.
“And also to get all those conditions. I mean for a first race, they were not the easiest of the conditions. But I mean, I learned a lot from that.
“So definitely the weekend was a really, really good experience, and especially ahead of the next 23 races.”
The biggest learnings Kimi Antonelli took from the Australian GP
Asked what surprised him most about the on and off-track activity during a race weekend, the Mercedes driver discussed just how intense a Grand Prix weekend is for a driver.
Getting into the highest intensity zone and on the pace immediately from FP1 was initially a surprise to him.
In fact, the results back it up. He was seven places and almost 0.7s slower than Mercedes teammate George Russell. By FP3, three places and 0.26s covered them.
“I think what really impressed me during last weekend was the intensity. So already from FP1, the level of intensity of the session, post-sessions, really surprised me.
“In terms of driving, from FP1, people might not think, but already it’s also intense. Because also as a driver, you want to be on top of the game, you want to be there, you want to be fast. And also you want to kick off well the weekend.
“What really surprised me during the whole weekend was the level of intensity that I had to kick [be at] in order to perform and to be able to stay with the frontrunners. So definitely that was the thing that surprised me.
“And also off-track, of course, because obviously you finish the session and you have to do a post-session debrief quickly. It needs to be a good one, of course, because it can really help the team in order to progress during the weekend.”
A familiar challenge awaits
Although the Chinese GP features a Sprint format, it’s familiar territory for Kimi Antonelli as F2 only had a single practice session before going into qualifying last year.
