ANTONELLI LOST 25 POINTS OF DOWNFORCE AFTER ZANDVOORT GRAVEL OFF
Kimi Antonelli has revealed that his Mercedes suffered significant floor damage during Sprint Qualifying at Zandvoort, costing the championship leader around 25 points of downforce.
The incident happened in SQ1 during Antonelli’s first push lap. The Italian entered the final corner with too much speed, lost the rear of the car and went through the gravel. He was able to return to the track, but the floor had already been damaged.
Antonelli explained after qualifying that the floor had several holes. Mercedes initially estimated that the damage had caused a loss of 25 points of downforce. The team then worked on the car and repaired as much of the floor as possible, but the problem could not be completely fixed.
The damage was especially noticeable in the slower corners. Antonelli said he struggled with the car in low-speed sections for the rest of the session, making it harder to extract the full performance from the Mercedes.
Despite the problem, Antonelli reached SQ3 and qualified fifth for the Sprint. He finished behind teammate George Russell, who took pole position, as well as Lando Norris and the two Ferrari drivers. Antonelli was only around two tenths slower than Russell in the final session.
Mercedes confirmed that the team worked on repairing the floor between the incident and the later stages of qualifying. Antonelli’s ability to continue through SQ1 and SQ2 meant that the damage did not prevent him from reaching the final session, although it limited the performance of the car.
Antonelli also admitted that the mistake was his responsibility. He explained that he had carried slightly too much speed into the final corner, lost the rear and ended up in the gravel. The incident therefore had a direct effect on his qualifying performance.
The Italian went on to finish fourth in the Sprint Race, behind Russell, Charles Leclerc and Norris. Russell led every lap to take the victory, while Antonelli managed to score points despite starting from fifth with the damaged car.
The result also allowed Antonelli to maintain his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. After the Sprint, he leads Lewis Hamilton by 53 points, with Russell also moving closer to the top of the standings.
Antonelli will now have to put the incident behind him before the main qualifying session and the Dutch Grand Prix. With the championship battle becoming closer and Mercedes facing strong competition from Ferrari and McLaren, avoiding further mistakes will be important for the championship leader.
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