Why Kimi Antonelli was off the pace in F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP practice
Kimi Antonelli explains why he was off the pace during Friday F1 practice in Barcelona.
Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli was unusually off the pace as he finished fifth during second practice at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Antonelli, the winner of the past five races and dominant early championship leader, trailed FP2 pacesetter Lando Norris by almost six-tenths of a second as he could only manage fifth in the timesheet.
The 19-year-old Italian was also outpaced by Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who topped opening practice in Barcelona, by nearly the same margin.
Antonelli sat out the first hour of running with Mercedes among seven teams to field rookies as part of their mandated yearly running in FP1, and appeared to struggle to get up to speed on his return to the W17.
After second practice, Antonelli explained that a combination of tyre overheating and balance issues prevented him from putting in a competitive lap during the soft tyre qualifying simulation runs.
“It’s been a bit tricky over a single lap,” Antonelli said. “The window is so small and the tyres are overheating quite a lot. Just trying to find the best balance.
“With only one lap for each set, it’s always difficult but I think overall, there’s still quite a bit of work to do. But I’m still confident ahead of tomorrow. The long run was good in the practice, so that’s a positive.
“Definitely looking forward to tomorrow and looking forward to the changes that we’re going to make.”
Antonelli, who hit traffic on his fastest lap, was also heard complaining about his brakes during FP2 and reported over team radio that his “brake pedal feels horrible” and was “so long”.
Asked about his brake problem, Antonelli said: “On a Friday we usually use a really used set, so definitely tomorrow is not going to be a problem as we’ll put a new set [on the car].
“Definitely George has looked very quick, McLaren look very quick as well. So it’s not going to be easy, but we will try to understand from tonight’s work and try to be ready for tomorrow.”
Antonelli is 66 points clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the championship, while Russell is 68 points behind.
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