Kimi Antonelli has voiced frustration at missing out on a stronger
lap time in Baku despite producing his best qualifying effort since
Canada. The Mercedes driver entered the Azerbaijan Grand Prix under
pressure after his performance last time out at Monza was labelled
underwhelming by team boss Toto Wolff. However, a fourth place
result in qualifying saw him outpace team-mate George Russell for
only the second time this year. Antonelli credited his clean run of
practice sessions with providing him more confidence behind the
wheel when it came to qualifying. “The pace has been strong the
whole weekend,” Antonelli told media including RacingNews365 .
“Definitely the biggest difference has been that I was able to do
clean sessions and to build [up]. “I felt pretty ready for
qualifying. The conditions were very difficult with the wind. The
wind was a lottery, because it was very gusty and very
unpredictable.” Antonelli's lap was over six-tenths down on pole
sitter Max Verstappen, with Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson being
surprise names to complete the top three. Despite the positive
result, Antonelli suggested he had the pace to get himself on the
front row alongside Verstappen. “I’m happy but disappointed at the
same time, especially in that last lap,” he added. “I got this gust
of tailwind, and I lost a couple of tenths, two or three tenths.
“The conditions were difficult for everyone at the end of the day.
Sometimes you could have been a bit luckier with the wind, and
other times, a bit more unlucky. “So I cannot complain, and we will
do our best [in the race].”
lap time in Baku despite producing his best qualifying effort since
Canada. The Mercedes driver entered the Azerbaijan Grand Prix under
pressure after his performance last time out at Monza was labelled
underwhelming by team boss Toto Wolff. However, a fourth place
result in qualifying saw him outpace team-mate George Russell for
only the second time this year. Antonelli credited his clean run of
practice sessions with providing him more confidence behind the
wheel when it came to qualifying. “The pace has been strong the
whole weekend,” Antonelli told media including RacingNews365 .
“Definitely the biggest difference has been that I was able to do
clean sessions and to build [up]. “I felt pretty ready for
qualifying. The conditions were very difficult with the wind. The
wind was a lottery, because it was very gusty and very
unpredictable.” Antonelli's lap was over six-tenths down on pole
sitter Max Verstappen, with Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson being
surprise names to complete the top three. Despite the positive
result, Antonelli suggested he had the pace to get himself on the
front row alongside Verstappen. “I’m happy but disappointed at the
same time, especially in that last lap,” he added. “I got this gust
of tailwind, and I lost a couple of tenths, two or three tenths.
“The conditions were difficult for everyone at the end of the day.
Sometimes you could have been a bit luckier with the wind, and
other times, a bit more unlucky. “So I cannot complain, and we will
do our best [in the race].”
The post Kimi Antonelli reveals frustration in 'lottery' qualifying session appeared first on RacingNews365.