Kimi Antonelli left ‘chasing’ after FP1 error ruins Dutch GP weekend

Mercedes Formula 1 rookie Kimi Antonelli admitted that his off in Friday practice has left him “chasing” for the rest of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend after failing to break into Q3 in qualifying.

While teammate George Russell put together a solid lap to qualify fifth, Antonelli could manage no better than 11th, missing the cut for the final segment of qualifying by 0.021s.

The Italian believes he has been on the back foot ever since he ran wide at Turn 9 and got stuck in the gravel trap in FP1, an incident that brought a premature end to his session.

The mistake had a knock-on effect over the rest of the weekend, forcing him to carry out race simulations in FP3 and leaving little time to prepare properly for qualifying.

“The off in Q1 really compromised the rest of the weekend and I found myself always chasing, and I missed many single laps, so that didn't help,"  he told the media, including Crash.net.

“Also, having to do a long run this morning also didn't help. But it was all because of my mistake in FP1, so it was a shame.

“I was feeling pretty decent in the car, and I was actually much closer than in the past few races, so just a shame to miss out by so little. “

Antonelli had finished a distant 17th in the final practice session of the weekend on Saturday morning, more than 1.7s adrift of pacesetter Lando Norris.

The 19-year-old explained how completing both a long run and a low-fuel run in FP3 hampered his preparations.

“When I did the [low-fuel] lap after the long run, I was a long way off from the grip potential, but it's just because it's so different,” he said.

“The corner speed is so much different, it's hard. I think with a clean FP1, it could have been a different weekend, but we tried.”

Antonelli also revealed how a lock-up at the chicane cost him valuable time on his final flying lap in Q3.

“It was very gusty in qualifying,” he said, echoing comments from other drivers. “The wind changed quite a lot and it was really easy to get caught.

“On my lap I braked a little bit too late in the last chicane and I locked up slightly and that is where I lost Q3.”