It was a tale of two tyre calls for Mercedes under the moody skies of Interlagos, as Kimi Antonelli and George Russell took diverging routes in the final segment of the São Paulo Grand Prix qualifying session.
The 18-year-old Italian rookie, composed and precise, opted to stay on the soft rubber – but admitted afterward that he had been very close to trying the mediums like his more experienced teammate.
Antonelli’s decision paid off handsomely. The young Mercedes driver delivered another outstanding performance to secure a spot on the front row alongside Lando Norris, keeping his head while others faltered in the tricky, low-grip conditions that caught out big names like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Tempted by the Mediums
Antonelli revealed that the team had seriously considered fitting the medium compound for his final lap.
“We definitely thought about putting on the medium in qualifying because even yesterday, the medium felt basically the same as the soft,” the young Italian explained. “The jump from medium to soft was very little. Also today in the sprint, the medium felt better than the soft.”
©Mercedes
He noted that the medium compound had impressed in both feeling and consistency across a lap –making it a tempting option in such an unpredictable session.
“Even in the first few laps, the grip just felt better. The tyre felt more robust, especially throughout the whole lap. So definitely we had a thought about it because we thought that there was not much of a gap,” he said.
Ultimately, though, Antonelli’s confidence in the softs and a shrewd eye on Sunday’s strategy sealed the call.
“But I thought as well that because I felt good on the soft, I thought it would be better to keep it for tomorrow. Tomorrow, obviously, we have the new tyres, so that's good, especially for the start. So I think that was the right choice at the end.”
The result clearly underlined Antonelli’s growing maturity and composure, qualities that have made his rookie season one of the most talked-about stories in the paddock.
Russell’s Risk Brings Limited Reward
While Antonelli thrived, Russell endured a far scrappier session. Struggling to extract grip from the soft compound, the Briton rolled the dice on the medium tyres for his final Q3 run – a bold call that yielded a marginal gain but ultimately left him sixth in the pecking order.
Frustrated but philosophical, Russell later admitted the switch hadn’t transformed his fortunes.
“I don't think I'd have done any better on the soft either – I wanted to try something different. It was just a very strange session altogether, probably the strangest one of the year where every single lap felt bad,” he said.
The Mercedes driver said the track conditions – greasy from overnight rain – had made finding grip a near-impossible task.
“The tyres felt poor every single lap,” he added. “Very strange. Part of me feels that it was almost damage limitation when I look at where Max ended up and where Lewis ended up.”
He suggested that the unpredictable surface played a big role in the jumbled qualifying order.
“I think it's tyre and surface related, I don't know why,” he said. “It obviously rained a lot last night, the track was maybe a little bit greasy. But everybody just seemed to be struggling, I think.”
Russell even noted that the lack of confidence was widespread across the grid.
“There were obviously maybe a handful of drivers who were doing a great job consistently but then a lot of drivers struggling mentally. I don't have an answer for it, but I think it's a bit of a one-off,” he reckoned.
In the end, Mercedes’ split strategy in Q3 summed up the strange rhythm of qualifying in São Paulo – one driver soaring with serene control, the other fighting to make sense of a slippery circuit.
For Antonelli, the call to stick with the softs could set up a golden chance in Sunday’s race. For Russell, the gamble may not have paid off, but it showed the kind of bold thinking needed when the grip – and the logic – seem to vanish at Interlagos.
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