– For Kimi Antonelli, there was not much to gain on the qualifying day of the Formula 1 in Monza (follow live here in the ticker). Due to an engine penalty, the Mercedes driver already knew in advance that he would be moved to the very back of the field regardless of the sporting outcome.
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Thus, Antonelli’s only task on Saturday was to make it into Q3 and give teammate George Russell a slipstream – even though that did not work out at the crucial moment due to Max Verstappen.
“It was simply what I had to do,” says the championship leader after the qualifying that was meaningless for him. “The team asked me to do it, and of course I did what was necessary and tried to help as best as I could.”
For him, the qualifying felt “a bit strange,” just like his individual lap between Russell’s runs, when he was allowed to set a time alone on the track. “That certainly was not a clean lap either,” he says. In the end, it at least placed him seventh on the times list.
“But all in all, I just had to do it today because of the penalty. I had to be a good teammate and help as much as I could. I think I managed that well, and I’m glad it worked out,” says the Italian.
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His focus was on the race all weekend, where he now has to try to move as far forward as possible from starting position 20 (Liam Lawson and Alexander Albon were also penalized).
Of course, he would like to stand on the podium at the home race, but according to motorsport chief Toto Wolff, that would be “too much to ask,” as he says on Sky. “You can see how extremely difficult it becomes once you get past a certain group in the midfield,” he says.
That means: Antonelli might still get past the backmarkers and the midfield, but once it goes towards the front, progress is likely over. “The gaps in performance are so small that it is basically impossible – unless you choose a completely different strategy and take a certain risk,” says Wolff. “I don’t think it’s feasible.”
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