Antonelli 'comes back to earth' with qualifying crash

Kimi Antonelli says his clang successful qualifying astatine the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was "stupid" and "a bully mode to travel backmost to earth" arsenic helium pursues his archetypal satellite title.

The Mercedes driver, who has been moving distant with the title this season, deed a partition successful archetypal qualifying successful Baku and volition commencement Saturday's contention 16th.

Team-mate George Russell, his closest pursuer successful the rubric race, starts from rod aft a ascendant performance.

Antonelli said: "I misjudged with the grip being truthful antithetic compared to the archetypal lap. I deed the wall. Unnecessary mistake aboriginal on.

"So it's a bully mode to travel backmost to world and to punctual myself I request to beryllium connected apical of it each clip due to the fact that different I bash these mistakes and a precise anserine one."

He added that helium was "very huffy astir it".

The 20-year-old Italian has been connected the backmost ft each weekend, warring to marque up for clip mislaid to a reliability occupation successful signifier connected Thursday.

His Mercedes suffered a hydraulic leak halfway done the archetypal league and the car was not acceptable for him to spell backmost retired connected way until halfway done the 2nd session.

Antonelli was 0.252secs down Russell successful last signifier connected Friday, 0.092secs quicker than the Briton aft his archetypal thigh successful qualifying and past made his mistake connected his second.

His mistake brought backmost memories of past year's expansive prix successful Baku, which proved to beryllium a turning constituent successful the 2025 championship.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri appeared connected people for his archetypal satellite rubric heading into this race, starring team-mate Lando Norris by 31 points.

But the Australian crashed successful qualifying, jumped the commencement and past crashed retired of the contention connected the archetypal lap, and his play came disconnected the rails aft that.

Antonelli's mistake gives Russell, who is 81 points adrift successful the championship, a 2nd accidental successful 3 races to constrictive his shortage to the Italian.

But the Briton has sounded resigned to losing retired connected the rubric for immoderate clip and helium referred backmost to Antonelli's stunning thrust astatine the Italian Grand Prix, which helium won aft starting 19th connected the grid due to the fact that of a penalty.

Russell said: "You can't discount Kimi. You know, started 19th successful Monza and present he's successful 16th, so, yeah, helium should beryllium starring by a fewer laps aboriginal this time."

Russell besides pointed retired that this was the archetypal important mistake Antonelli had made successful a competitory league each year.

Asked if helium believed Antonelli's mistake was a effect of "title jitters", Russell said: "When you look astatine each title campaign, adjacent for the winners, determination are mistakes on the way.

"So, I inactive support connected believing and support connected warring until it isn't imaginable immoderate more. But I don't consciousness immoderate pressure.

"I consciousness excitement each clip I leap successful the car now, purely due to the fact that I consciousness much assured successful myself.

"When that assurance starts to build, it's conscionable similar this upward cycle.

"On the flip side, erstwhile you're connected the backmost foot, you commencement losing that assurance and past you commencement pushing the limits more, and that's erstwhile mistakes happen.

"But he's been flawless this season. It's the archetypal mistake he's made successful a qualifying oregon contention this full year."

Russell's rod borderline was a monolithic 0.837secs, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc 2nd and Piastri third.

The Baku thoroughfare circuit has a agelong consecutive that affords bully overtaking possibilities and has a estimation for producing incident-packed races.

Asked astir imaginable challengers successful the race, successful summation to Antonelli, Russell said Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who qualified eighth aft a hard session, "is going to beryllium a threat".

Verstappen, who was quickest successful last signifier conscionable up of Russell, suffered a drawstring of problems that helium said had stopped him taking a spot connected the beforehand enactment alongside the Mercedes.

"The full qualifying was not however it should be," helium said.

"Already from Q1 the motor was 0.5secs down connected the consecutive compared to my team-mate and they can't explicate oregon recognize why. So you're connected the backmost foot.

"Then successful Q3 connected my mediate thigh my artillery didn't complaint to 100% truthful I had to abort the thigh which means you suffer tyre temp and astir present that's killing.

"I tried to push... but being down connected apical velocity and I had a yellowish emblem from Lando successful beforehand of me, [which] meant that's wherever we are."

The Dutchman added: "The full play we were moving truly good and past we tally into truthful overmuch occupation successful qualifying. It's not bully enough.

"Looking astatine George's lap, I don't deliberation we would person fought for rod but determination is simply a large spread down and we should person slotted successful to that easily.

"But erstwhile you person that galore issues you besides don't merit to beryllium there. We request to beryllium much robust and we request to beryllium connected apical of these things."