Italian Kimi Antonelli, driver for the Mercedes team, expressed his anger and great disappointment after losing the Brazilian Grand Prix in Formula 1, following a loss of control of his car at the first turn on lap 20 out of 71 laps at the Interlagos circuit in S茫o Paulo.
Antonelli started from second place, overtaking British driver Lando Norris of McLaren to take the lead and build a comfortable gap. He maintained the lead before and after the first round of pit stops, but switching from the wet-weather tires (intermediates) to slick tires, despite some sections remaining wet, led to a loss of control.
For his part, Antonelli noted that he informed his team before the incident that the car was pulling during acceleration, mentioning a strange feeling after switching to soft tires. He added that he received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release from the garage during the second stop, which did not affect his position at that moment.
The Italian managed to regain control and continue the race, but found himself under pressure from French driver Isack Hadjar of Red Bull, before losing further positions to Hadjar and Dutch driver Max Verstappen, finishing the race in fifth place behind his teammate George Russell. The victory went to Norris, who secured his third win of the season and his fourteenth in his career.
Antonelli, recently crowned the youngest Formula 1 World Champion at 20 years old, added that he was proud of the team securing their ninth title in the Constructors' Championship, but emphasized that losing the race was unfortunate given how close they were to winning until the spin occurred.
Source: Arriyadiyah newspaper
Comments (0)