Kimi Antonelli was disappointed in P13 at the Imola GP qualifying as the Italian national fizzled out in Q2.
The Mercedes rookie called is qualifying result “hard luck” for the Imola GP, where he lives only half an hour away from the track.
Like most other drivers, Antonelli commented on the difficulty of finding grip in their tyres, as he said: ”I couldn’t really strike any grip out of the tyres. It was difficult out there. Compared to FP [Free Practice], it was a lot different.
“I struggled to get into the rhythm and to find the grip out there. Of course, it’s a shame to come away with P13, because obviously it’s difficult to overtake here.”
Overtaking in Imola
The Italian has grown significantly with his short stint in F1, particularly after securing a Sprint pole in Miami and becoming the youngest driver to start an F1 race in any format on pole position at 18 years, eight months, eight days.
Antonelli understands the difficulties of overtaking in Imola, but remains confident.
“It’s really hard to overtake, and it’s going to be difficult, but we will do our best. Hard luck.”
Pleading for Imola
This comes after F1 president Stefano Domenicali voiced his concerns regarding the Imola GP, admitting that maintaining the two Italian races on the calendar has become difficult.
Kimi Antonelli was open and honest in the matter, he said previously: “I would love for it to stay on the calendar. It’s such a unique track. As I said before, it’s technical, it’s not easy, especially over one lap, to put everything together. It’s old school, quite bumpy. All things that make it special.
“The history of this track is incredible. Definitely, I would love if there were a chance for the track to stay on the calendar next year and for the next few years.”
Antonellli enters Sunday’s race sixth in the driver’s standings on 48 points after a solid start to his rookie campaign.
Team-mate George Russell fared better in qualifying and lines up an impressive third on the grid for the race. Antonelli trails the Briton by 45 points in the standings.
A good haul of points will be required in Imola to begin to close the deficit to Russell. Antonelli now lies almost a race victory behind his team-mate.
