Kimi Antonelli makes "very unpredictable" admission about new Mercedes F1 car
Kimi Antonelli has admitted that the Mercedes upgrades have been 'very unpredictable' at the Singapore GP
For the Singapore Grand Prix, Mercedes is running a split strategy when it comes to the packages that their drivers have.
George Russell will use the old package from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, whereas Kimi Antonelli will continue with the new upgrades that were introduced for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
On paper, after the opening day in Singapore, it appears that the Mercedes upgrades have not made a positive impact on the car, as Antonelli struggled when compared to his teammate.
For the sprint race on Saturday, Antonelli will start from seventh place on the grid, but Russell will start from the front row in second place.
After the opening day of track action, Antonelli admitted that he has been struggling with the upgraded Mercedes and has stated the car is ‘very unpredictable’.
“Already in FP1, I was struggling; there is still a lot to understand about this package,” Antonelli said after sprint qualifying.
“Really, the car is very difficult, very unpredictable, and very difficult to put a lap together. It's a shame because I was coming with high hopes, but so far it's been very difficult.”
He also added, “I think it's going to be a difficult weekend. Unless we can pull something out tomorrow, but other than that, it's going to be very tricky.
“I don't really see where we can find seven tenths, but you never know. Maybe, you know, tonight Bono and the engineers are going to find something in the car.
“And for sure, I'm going to try to improve the driving a little bit, uh, and then let's see, we'll see tomorrow where we end up.”
Antonelli extended his championship lead last time out in Sepang, but may drop points to his teammate on Saturday after his sprint qualifying performance.
However, on Sunday, Russell will be starting from the back of the grid after he took a new power unit for the Singapore Grand Prix. Which will likely give Antonelli an advantage as he will likely qualify higher on the grid, if he has a successful qualifying on Saturday.
