Antonelli was ‘talking to the tyres’ during 48-lap Vegas stint

Kimi Antonelli’s unlikely rise from 17th on the grid to a podium finish in Las Vegas came down to skill, nerve – and, as he revealed afterward, a running conversation with his hard tyres as he nursed them through a marathon 48-lap stint.

The Mercedes rookie had been on the back foot from the outset after a rain-hit qualifying left him stranded in Q1. His race nearly unraveled within seconds, too, as he narrowly avoided the first-corner clash between Gabriel Bortoleto and Lance Stroll.

But in the chaos came an irony: Antonelli’s tiny jump start – “so minuscule” he didn’t feel it — might have been the fraction that kept him clear of the accident.

Managing the Penalty, Whispering to the Hards

Despite the early five-second penalty for his slightly anticipated launch off the grid, Antonelli cut through the field with measured aggression. An early stop on lap 3 for hard tyres appeared to lock him into a two-stop strategy, but Mercedes soon signaled a much tougher path: making the hards last to the finish.

“Well, I got with 20 laps to the end and the team radio said that we were going to Plan B, so I knew I would have had to finish to go until the end,” he recounted.

“So obviously I was trying to manage the tyres and I knew I felt quite comfortable in the last 10 laps, obviously with Oscar close behind, but the graining started to clean up and the pace just kept getting stronger and stronger, so I was feeling comfortable and managed to stick it.”

As the laps wound down, the rookie found himself pleading with the rubber beneath him.

“Yeah, I mean I was talking to the tyres, the last 20 laps, every lap on the straight,” he said. “I was just asking them to please hold on until the end.”

The graining on the front tyres had him worried at mid-distance, but Antonelli said the issue eased when he found clean air.

“I was a bit concerned with the graining halfway through the race but eventually once I was in free air, especially the last 10 laps, also thanks to some advice that I got from the team on driving, the graining started to clean up a little bit and we were able to just hold on and actually the time kept getting faster and faster so I’m really happy with that,” he explained.

From Fifth to the Podium

Antonelli crossed the line fourth on the road, ultimately classified fifth once his penalty was applied. But hours later, both McLarens were disqualified for excessive plank wear — elevating him to third and securing his third podium as a Formula 1 driver.

“It was just a shame we started so far back but that’s part of the learning and now we move on and focus on the next two,” he reflected.

As for the jump start itself, Antonelli admitted he still wasn’t sure what triggered it.

“Yeah it was very tricky I think,” he said. “My suggestion is that I rolled a little bit but I didn’t really feel it in the car so just need to review the onboard and understand what was the issue.”

A night that began with setbacks ended in celebration – and a rookie proving he can coax miracles out of worn-out tyres when it matters most.

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