On the again of one other mesmerizing effort within the qualifying session on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli insisted that he must “rewatch” his closing push lap as he thought that P4 was withing his attain.
It was not apparent how aggressive Mercedes is on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit because the W16 appeared robust in sure situations, however it appeared to lack tempo in others. Nonetheless, qualifying evening at Jeddah turned out to be a robust session for the Brackley-based outfit after George Russell got here agonisingly shut in battle for Jeddah pole
In the end, the Briton wound up only a tenth off pole, firmly within the battle with the Crimson Bull and McLaren forward. His team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has expertise of the Jeddah circuit from final yr when he drove in F2, as soon as once more confirmed how shortly he’s progressing as he ended up fifth on the grid.
Having displayed spectacular efficiency by way of the qualifying session at Jeddah, Antonelli insisted that he must “rewatch” his closing push lap as he thought that P4 was withing his attain.
“That was a really intense Qualifying! The session as an entire went nicely, and I continued to construct my velocity. I had a giant snap on my first lap in Q1 and needed to burn a second set of latest tyres to get by way of to Q2. That wasn’t ideally suited however we nonetheless made it by way of to Q3 and, with the crimson flag, all of it got here right down to the ultimate effort anyway.
“I have to rewatch my lap to see precisely what occurred, however I had a second within the first sector that price me just a few tenths. That was a disgrace as the remainder of the lap was robust and I feel we might have taken P4.
“I’m feeling increasingly more assured every weekend. This monitor is such a giant check as you want plenty of confidence and to get actually near the partitions by way of the high-speed corners. Step-by-step, and the extra expertise I’m getting, I really feel like I’m beginning to put all of it along with extra consistency.
“Let’s not get forward of ourselves although and see what we are able to do tomorrow. It will likely be an extended race and hopefully we are able to convey dwelling some stable factors for the crew.”
