Andrea Kimi Antonelli has explained he “didn’t really feel” the forward movement that constituted his jump start at Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
After qualifying down in 17th on a poor Friday, Antonelli got a penalty for that jump start. Five seconds were added to his race time as his only pitstop occurred on lap two, before the stewards were able to adjudicate.
Asked what happened at the start given it looked marginal on the broadcast, the rookie commented: “It was very tricky, I think. My suggestion is that I rolled a little bit, but I didn't really feel it in the car, so I just need to review the onboard and understand what was the issue.”
The penalty initially dropped Antonelli from fourth to fifth, behind Oscar Piastri, and meant he was just 0.190s ahead of Charles Leclerc in the final classification. But the McLarens’ disqualification promoted him to the final podium spot – though he didn’t get to stand on it.
The Mercedes racer’s drive earned plaudits as he completed a mammoth 50-lap stint on hard tyres, in a 52-lap race; he was 14th when he pitted under the virtual safety car on lap 2, but the mitigated time loss and his excellent subsequent pace meant he undercut everyone but the top three. Antonelli then successfully held off Oscar Piastri and Leclerc before his penalty was applied.
Asked by Autosport if he was surprised that the hards held on that well, the Italian youngster admitted: “I was talking to the tyres the last 20 laps, every lap on the straight. I was just asking them to please hold on until the end.
“I was a bit concerned with the graining halfway through the race, but eventually, once I was in free air, especially the last 10 laps – also thanks to some advice that I got from the team on driving – the graining started to clean up a little bit and we were able to just hold on.
“Actually, the time kept getting faster and faster, so I'm really happy with that. It was just a shame we started so far back, but that's part of the learning.”
Antonelli also keenly denied a suggestion that he may have been backing up Piastri and Leclerc to prevent them from catching Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
“No, no, no,” he replied. “To be fair, I was trying to do my race, and if I have to be really honest, I was trying to catch him as well. I was doing my race, I was just trying to maximise the result, because it was important to get good points for the team.
“Obviously, I don't know whether it helped George, the fact that I kept those two behind, but I was just thinking about myself. I’m happy with the result, and I just need to keep going like this.”
Antonelli has now scored 71 points in the last six rounds, compared to 66 in the first 16. The rookie no longer is a lonely seventh in the championship, as he has brought his deficit to sixth-placed Lewis Hamilton down from 49 to 15 points in two grands prix.
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