Source: Official Team Post via X
Kimi Antonelli Faces Challenges with Tricky New Mercedes Spec in Singapore
Kimi Antonelli found the new-spec Mercedes difficult to handle, finishing P7 in the Singapore Sprint Qualifying. With George Russell using an older car version, Antonelli struggled to match his teammate's pace.
Kimi Antonelli has admitted to having a tough time grappling with Mercedes' upgraded car during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. The German team opted to split their car specifications, leaving Antonelli with the newer version that he found "very difficult" to manage, culminating in a seventh-place finish in Sprint Qualifying.
Ahead of the weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Mercedes announced that George Russell would revert to the Azerbaijan-spec version of the car, while Antonelli would continue with the recent upgrades introduced in Malaysia. This decision came as the results from Sepang were not entirely conclusive, and Russell faced a grid penalty due to an unavoidable engine change.
Friday's action highlighted the disparity between the two setups. Russell clocked the fastest lap during the sole practice session and secured second in Sprint Qualifying. Antonelli, however, struggled to keep pace, ending both sessions in seventh place.
When asked about the car's performance after Sprint Qualifying, Antonelli said, "Yes and no, to be fair. Already in FP1 I was struggling, and, yeah, still a lot to understand about this package." He described the car as "very difficult, very unpredictable" and expressed disappointment, having arrived with high expectations.
The apparent performance gap between the two Mercedes specifications suggests a challenging weekend ahead for Antonelli. He acknowledged the difficulty, saying, "I think it's going to be a difficult weekend unless we can pull something out tomorrow. But other than that, it's going to be very tricky. I don't really see where we can find seven tenths, but you never know."
Despite the challenges, Antonelli remains optimistic about finding improvements. "Maybe tonight, Bono [Pete Bonnington, Antonelli’s race engineer], the engineers, we're going to find something in the car. And for sure, I'm going to try to improve a little bit the driving, and then we'll see tomorrow where we end up," he added.