Antonelli reveals why he was fast in Singapore, but not flawless

Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli left Singapore with another top-five finish – but also a sense of unfinished business.

The young Italian combined blistering speed with moments of frustration around the unforgiving Marina Bay Street Circuit, admitting that a string of small but costly mistakes ultimately blunted what could have been a standout result.

As an absolute beginner in Singapore, Antonelli impressed in the opening segments of qualifying, clocking in fifth and third in Q1 and Q2 – both times within a tenth of teammate George Russell. But when it mattered most in Q3, the teenager couldn’t quite string it all together.

“For sure, the pace has been strong, qualifying has been better and better,” Antonelli said after the race, quoted by Motorsport.com.

“I was a bit disappointed with yesterday because I felt I just overdrove. If I had controlled myself a little bit more, trying to do clean laps, it would have been a different story. I would have started further forward and it probably would have been a different race today.”

Starting fourth on the grid, Antonelli found himself squeezed at Turn 1 as Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc launched either side of him. The rookie’s bid to hang on to the inside line only compounded the problem.

“My mistake in Turn 1 was to try and hold on to Norris,” Antonelli admitted. “Then I found myself way too on the inside and Leclerc had a much better run on the outside.

“So, it was a shame, but the pace in the race was really strong. That’s a positive and we’ll try to carry that into the next few races.”

The Long Game Pays Off – Eventually

Once the dust settled, Antonelli regrouped and showed why Mercedes has placed so much faith in him. Running close behind Leclerc for most of the evening, he played the patient hunter, saving his tyres and waiting for his moment.

“With tyres, he started to struggle,” he explained, referring to his Ferrari rival. “He was really pushing and so I was trying to play the long game, trying to save my tyres and really trying to find the right moment to attack.

“When we were approaching the traffic of the backmarkers, I felt that was the best moment because he was in clean air and I was in dirty air and I was still able to hold on to him.

“I knew that he would start to struggle once he would get in dirty air as well. So, that was a good timing.”

That “good timing” came on lap 53, when Antonelli launched a decisive move down the inside at Turn 16 – a clean, clinical overtake that earned applause from the Mercedes pit wall and post-race praise from Toto Wolff.

Lessons Learned, Glass Half-Empty

Despite finishing fifth, Antonelli ended the race 33.7 seconds behind winner George Russell and 25.5 seconds off fourth-placed Oscar Piastri, leaving the rookie acutely aware of the fine margins he missed.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff summed up Antonelli’s mindset with a smile:

“You know, Kimi is also one that always sees the glass half-empty,” the Austrian said. “And what he will see is a Q3 that didn’t go to plan, that could have put him in the first row, and a start in Turn 1 that wasn’t so good.

“That’s at least his honest feedback after the race. For him, it’s more like a front position that was lost rather than a P5 that was won.

• Read also: Russell opens up on key transformation fueling his success

“But solid delivery, the manoeuvre on Leclerc was strong. It wasn’t caught by the cameras, but we could see on the telemetry a huge braking event, that there was so much pressure in the system that it started to oscillate.

“That was good, and maybe that’s a bit comforting after the other parts of the race.”

Antonelli may not yet be celebrating regular podiums, but with 22 points from his last two races – more than in his previous ten combined – the 18-year-old continues to blend promise with maturity.

Singapore may have tested his patience, but it also confirmed what many already believe: the next big thing in Formula 1 learns fast.

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