Andrea Kimi Antonelli described his restoration drive to complete within the high 5 at Las Vegas “redemption” after his poor efficiency in qualifying.
The Mercedes driver was eradicated within the first spherical of qualifying in Las Vegas and began the race seventeenth. He moved as much as thirteenth because of the multi-car crash firstly, then pitted beneath the following Digital Security Automobile interval.
From there he ran to the top of the race on a set of exhausting tyres, absorbing stress from Oscar Piastri. A five-second time penalty for a bounce begin dropped him to fifth place behind the McLaren within the unique classification.
“I used to be actually, actually proud of that,” mentioned Antonelli after the race, admitting he had doubts about his 48-lap stint on exhausting tyres.
“I feel the technique was very dangerous. I used to be a bit involved midway by way of the race as a result of the graining began to look and I wasn’t so certain I might have been capable of make it to the top.
“However then I received the group radio that we had been transferring to ‘plan B’, so the plan was to complete with that set. I used to be simply attempting to handle the easiest way attainable and ultimately the graining began to wash up and the time simply stored coming and coming and we had been capable of maintain Oscar and Charles [Leclerc] behind.
“In fact the penalty was a bit unfortunate, I misplaced the fourth place, but it surely was nonetheless a robust end result right this moment.”
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The end result improved for Antonelli after the race when the disqualification of the 2 McLarens promoted him to 3rd.
Regardless of his setback in qualifying, Antonelli says he’s been gaining confidence in Mercedes’ automotive and he was happy to show it by rebounding to complete third.
“Positively the sensation is getting higher and higher within the automotive,” he mentioned. “I’ve been having fun with rather a lot these days, driving the automotive. It’s been, clearly, after Brazil, good momentum.
“In fact [qualifying] was an enormous disgrace. I used to be very upset, however right this moment was redemption. I simply have to now deal with the following two and I actually need to end on a excessive.”
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2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix
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