(Motorsport-Total.com) – Kimi Antonelli cost himself a better starting position in the sprint qualifying in Zandvoort. The Mercedes driver slid into the gravel trap on his first fast lap and damaged the underbody. Although the championship leader still managed to secure fifth place on the grid, teammate George Russell did much better and secured pole position for the sprint race.
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Antonelli was even faster than Russell at the start of the session before the rear broke loose in the last corner. The Italian lost control but was able to avoid a crash and drove back onto the track through the gravel.
The consequences were still significant. “I had a few holes in the underbody,” Antonelli explained afterwards. “When I came back, they initially said we lost 25 points. Then they tried to repair as much as possible.”
Mercedes was not able to completely fix the damage, however. Especially in the slow section, the car felt significantly worse afterwards.
Antonelli: “It was just too much speed”
Antonelli takes responsibility for the off-track excursion. “I had a bit too much entry speed in the last corner, lost the rear, and went through the gravel,” the 19-year-old described. “Of course, it was also not easy to rebuild confidence.”
Nevertheless, Antonelli fought his way back into SQ3 and placed the Mercedes in fifth. However, he was more than two tenths of a second behind Russell. This marked an important success for the Brit. He secured the best time in an important session for the first time in a long while.
“It’s been a while since I was at the top in any session,” says Russell. “Honestly, I can’t even remember when that was last.”
Russell: Starting from scratch again after the summer break
The pole was therefore also personally important. After the summer break, he initially did not approach the weekend with maximum confidence. “I came here with a completely open mindset because I had no idea how it would go,” Russell explained. “Confidence was not exactly at its highest level.”
Instead of focusing too much on expectations, he tried to mentally return to an earlier starting point. “I tried to remember the feeling of what I need from myself and the car and treat it almost like the first race of the season. Not to think too much about it.”
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Wolff jokes about Russell’s marriage proposal
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had an unusual explanation for Russell’s strong performance. When asked about his driver’s performance improvement, Wolff joked that Russell might have been so relaxed after the summer break because his partner accepted his marriage proposal.
“I think George is just relieved that she accepted his marriage proposal,” Wolff said with a grin. Aside from the joke, Wolff was very satisfied with Russell’s performance. It was about not getting distracted after the longer break and putting together a clean lap in the end.
Mercedes sees Ferrari ahead in the race
However, pole position is by no means a guarantee of sprint victory for Mercedes. Russell especially warned about Ferrari. “Ferrari’s race pace looked exceptionally strong this morning,” he said. Mercedes was not quite at that level in long-run speed.
Wolff also sees the Scuderia’s race pace as a decisive factor. “The Ferrari looked very strong in the long run,” the Mercedes team boss explained. For the sprint, Mercedes now has to find out how these differences actually affect the race.
Added to this is the peculiarity of Zandvoort: overtaking is difficult on the narrow and twisty track. “I think it will be a very difficult track to overtake,” said Russell. For him, a clean start could therefore already be decisive.
Mercedes loses to McLaren in the fast section
At the front, the field is also extremely close. The decisive laps were sometimes only a few hundredths of a second apart. However, Mercedes has identified a clear weakness. According to Wolff, the car loses especially in the fast section of turns seven and eight.
“There we are sometimes 13 km/h slower than Norris,” the Austrian explained on Sky. The cause is not yet clear. It is possible that Mercedes runs the car a bit too low or that the balance in this area is not optimal.
This could already show in the sprint whether the pole position actually reflects the real strength of the Mercedes – or whether McLaren and Ferrari can pass over the longer distance.
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