Kimi Antonelli has acknowledged that a severe lack of confidence hampered his performance during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, describing his driving style as cautious as “driving like my grandmother.” The current Formula 1 championship leader finished fifth after mounting a recovery drive from 16th on the grid, but his advantage over Mercedes teammate George Russell was reduced to 66 points after Russell claimed victory.
The 20-year-old Italian had entered the weekend with high expectations following his dramatic comeback win at his home race in Monza earlier in September, where he started from 19th. However, the Bahrain-hosted event in Baku presented significant challenges, compounded by missing substantial practice time due to technical issues with his car.
“I was driving a bit like my grandmother today, just damage save mode,” Antonelli said. “I didn’t take risks. Before making a move, I was making sure that I could go for it.”
Antonelli noted that overtaking proved more difficult than usual due to long strings of cars running in “Overtake Mode.” He added, “If I had the same pace as at Monza or in previous races, it would have been different. It would have been like just full attack. But today, I realised very early that first of all, it was a lot harder to overtake… then I didn’t have the same pace as I had previously, so the mindset changed very quickly.”
Damage save mode is the worst place to be in Baku. Traffic makes it impossible to fight back properly.
I wonder if the lack of practice time was the real culprit here or just an excuse?
Monza hero to Baku struggle. The pressure must be immense for a 20-year-old leading the championship.
66 points is nothing in F1. One good race at home and it could be over again.
Grandma driving but still finished fifth? That is incredibly gritty. Hope he snaps out of it soon.