Kimi Antonelli secured a fifth-place finish at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but admitted he wasn't aggressive. "I drove like my grandmother," he joked.
Starting from 16th after a Q1 crash, the Mercedes driver had to work hard. The 51-lap race in Baku was chaotic, and Antonelli took advantage to move forward. However, he suffered floor damage after contact with Haas's Oliver Bearman at the Safety Car restart into Turn 1.
The damage severely hampered his car's performance. "After the restart, I had big floor damage. My whole left side was gone from the contact. The car was very sketchy to drive," he explained. Despite trying to chase fourth place, he realized P5 was the maximum.
Antonelli also revealed a quick mindset change. Initially thinking 'all or nothing' after poor qualifying, he adapted when he saw his pace wasn't competitive. "I realised very early that overtaking was much harder. I didn't have the same pace as Monza. The mindset changed very quickly," he said.
Instead of attacking, he stayed on track and capitalized on others' mistakes. "Today I just took advantage of everyone else's mistake and moved forward," he added. The defensive strategy paid off with a fifth-place finish.
Meanwhile, teammate George Russell won the race by a narrow margin over Max Verstappen. Antonelli lost ground in the championship but still leads Russell by 66 points ahead of the next round at Sepang International Circuit.
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