Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes found the answers it had been searching for after a dramatic turnaround between Friday’s practice sessions at the Belgian Grand Prix transformed the championship leader’s fortunes, sending him to the top of the timing screens in FP2.
The opening hour at Spa-Francorchamps had painted a far less encouraging picture. Antonelli ended the first practice session in sixth place, more than half a second adrift of pace-setter Max Verstappen, as Mercedes struggled to unlock performance from its package.
By the afternoon, however, the Silver Arrows had come alive.
Already showing promising pace on the medium compound, Antonelli extracted even more speed after bolting on the soft tyres, producing the only lap of the session to dip below the 1m46s barrier.
His effort was enough to edge McLaren’s Lando Norris, who also made a sizeable leap forward between the two sessions
Mercedes finds the missing pace
Antonelli admitted the improvement came after significant overnight-style work compressed into the gap between Friday’s sessions, with Mercedes making changes that immediately altered the feel of the car.
"It was a massive turnaround with the car because in FP1, we struggled a lot more than anticipated, so it was a good change," said Antonelli.
Despite finishing the day on top, the Mercedes youngster stressed there was little room for complacency heading into the remainder of the weekend.
"But of course, a lot of work to do because Red Bull is quick, McLaren was up there. So we just need to put things together,” he added.
Encouragingly for Mercedes, Antonelli was also satisfied with the car’s consistency over longer stints, though he expects more fine-tuning before qualifying and the Grand Prix.
"The long run felt quite strong as well, but obviously, the car changed quite a bit between the two sessions. A lot of work to do overnight to be ready for tomorrow and Sunday,” he said.
The improvement was particularly striking given the issues that hampered his opening session, where excessive sliding prevented him from extracting the maximum from the car.
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Antonelli’s afternoon was not entirely trouble-free. During an early flying lap, he encountered a slow-moving Carlos Sainz exiting a high-speed section of the circuit, forcing him to abandon the attempt.
The Mercedes driver was visibly frustrated, gesturing toward the Williams as he passed.
“He backed off out of a fast corner. You exit in seventh gear and I had to abort, and it was quite risky, so of course, I was not happy about it,” he explained.
“What I said, probably in the heat of the moment, is not the best, but it was quite a dangerous moment.”
Mercedes plays down Russell underperformance
While Antonelli enjoyed a breakthrough afternoon, team-mate George Russell was unable to replicate the same leap in performance.
The Briton’s single-lap pace lagged more than a second behind, echoing a similar pattern seen at Silverstone before Antonelli’s race was ultimately compromised by reliability issues.
Mercedes, however, was not reading too much into the gap.
Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin explained that Russell’s deficit was largely rooted in one imperfect qualifying simulation rather than any deeper concern.
"It was not a great lap for George, but it was only one lap, so if that doesn't go well, you look like you're off the pace," Shovlin said.
"But he felt he didn't have the tyres ready for the start of the lap, which leaves a bit of a loss. There are a few corners where it looks like he might have underestimated the grip level, but given the first session that we had, that's not a big surprise.
"There are bits for him to work on, but, as I said, we can see a lot of it in the data that we'll be chasing, and I'm pretty sure he'll be there tomorrow."
For Mercedes, Friday ended with renewed optimism after a difficult start, but Antonelli knows topping FP2 guarantees nothing. With Red Bull and McLaren showing strong pace throughout the day, the Italian expects the fight at the front to tighten considerably when the competitive sessions begin at Spa.
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