26/07/2025 20:30
An emotional Kimi Antonelli has declared himself bereft of
confidence following his latest nightmare that appeared to leave
him emotional following qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
After finishing the slowest in sprint qualifying on Friday evening,
during which he spun off and into the gravel at Stavelot in his
Mercedes, the 18-year-old's misery continued in grand prix
qualifying when he could only finish 18th. After a solid start to
his rookie season, scoring points in five of the first six
'flyaway' grands prix, since F1 pitched up in Europe, Antonelli has
suffered four retirements in five races, finishing 18th in the
other. Remarkably, in between such an unhappy run was his sparkling
third place in the Canadian Grand Prix. After qualifying, Antonelli
took his time before speaking to the media. Ordinarily, the drivers
knocked out at the end of each segment make their way very soon
after to the television and the written pens to conduct interviews.
Antonelli, however, was the last of all the drivers to take to the
pen. His eyes were red, and he was holding a tissue in one hand.
Explaining this latest unfortunate episode, he gave an honest
appraisal. "Since the European season, I've been struggling to find
confidence with the car, and I feel like I've made a backwards
step," he said. "It's a difficult moment for me, because I feel
like I have no confidence in pushing. Yesterday [in sprint
qualifying], I tried to push a bit too much, and then I spun, and
it hurt the confidence even more. It's a difficult period. "We know
the limitation we have [with the car] is quite a lot, but with the
way I'm driving, I'm just increasing the problem, and that's giving
me even less confidence with the car." Antonelli suggests pit lane
start Antonelli claimed his car to be "in a better place" for grand
prix qualifying, only to add: "It's just on my side, I still
struggled to get up to speed quickly because the confidence is
missing. "There's a lot of work to do on my side, and I will try to
find the light at the end of the tunnel as soon as possible." As to
what he needs from the car, he said: "Definitely, a bit more
stability, because with the way I drive, I'm a bit more aggressive
with the inputs, also, compared to George [Russell], I'm a bit more
aggressive overall. "I tend to try and carry a lot of speed into
the corner. With the limitations I have, I'm just increasing the
problem. "So on my side, I'm trying to change a little the way I'm
driving to also have balance. Of course, it's impossible to have
the perfect balance, so I'm just trying to work on that, but it's
not easy." As to his ways of working with the team to ensure he is
not overthinking matters, again, he pulled no punches on himself.
"The team has been trying to help me as much as possible," he said.
"But I'm probably trying to change the way I'm driving too much,
and it feels like I'm not driving naturally. It's very forced, the
way I'm driving, and it's just difficult." Antonelli has stated
Mercedes will change his car overnight, and he will start from the
pit lane. He said: "Hopefully that will give us an advantage, and
hopefully, the confidence will be back."
