‘High hopes, hard lessons’: Antonelli reflects on painful Imola debut

For Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was always going to be a landmark moment — his first home race in Formula 1, and one packed with expectation, excitement, and pressure.

But after a weekend that started full of hope and ended in retirement, the 18-year-old Italian admitted that the sheer weight of the occasion took its toll, mentally and emotionally.

Antonelli was thrust under the spotlight from the moment he arrived at Imola where he faced a barrage of distractions that left him struggling to conserve energy amidst the weekend’s chaos.

The presence of over 20 of his classmates that he had invited to the circuit was a thoughtful initiative, but one criticized by1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who claimed the added disturbance may have contributed to the local hero’s underwhelming performance in qualifying, where he failed to make Q3.

“A really intense weekend, mentally and emotionally and I think on my side I didn’t manage things the best,” Antonelli confessed on Sunday.

“I think especially on trying to save energy, I didn’t do a really good job on that and I could feel it affect a little bit the driving as well because I could feel I didn’t have as much energy.

“Definitely on that side was a really good learning ahead of next home race.”

Promise Turns to Frustration

Despite the challenging start to the weekend, Antonelli looked poised to fight for his first points finish after gaining track position thanks to a well-timed Virtual Safety Car.

At one stage, he ran ahead of teammate George Russell and both Ferraris, igniting hopes of a fairytale result before a throttle issue put paid to his efforts 20 laps from the checkered flag.

“Definitely was not the happiest of endings,” Antonelli said. “It was difficult, I mean first thing was mainly stuck in the DRS train and obviously the tyres took a hit so was just trying to hang on and then we were lucky with the VSC and then back on the medium.

“To be honest I had high hopes but then after a couple of laps I started to have the throttle issue and then at the end it completely went off.

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“Of course is a shame but it’s things that happen and I think overall the pace was not too bad at the end of the day. Without the issue I don’t know how much better it would have been but I was losing, I could feel it quite a lot especially power wise.

“But nothing more I could do and still, was a good learning this weekend and going to see what I can improve as a driver on my side in order to be back stronger in Monaco.”

While Imola didn’t deliver the result he hoped for, Antonelli is determined to use the experience – the pressure, the mistakes, and the misfortune – as fuel for growth as he prepares for the next challenge next weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo.

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