Kimi Antonelli has admitted that his confidence took a hit after suffering significant car damage during sprint qualifying at Zandvoort on Friday. The incident occurred early in the session when he ran through the gravel trap, costing him a large amount of downforce and leaving him struggling to fight at the front.
The Italian lost control of his car through the penultimate corner on his first flying lap, forcing him to go off track before rejoining. Although he managed to continue, Kimi Antonelli revealed that his car had holes in the floor, leading to a loss of 25 points of downforce.
"When I came in, they initially said it was a loss of 25 points [of downforce]. They tried to repair as much as possible, but the damage was still there. I was struggling a lot in the low speed," Antonelli said after the session.
Despite making it through to the top-10 shootout, Antonelli was largely a non-factor in the battle for pole position. He had to settle for fifth place, two-tenths of a second down on the fastest time set by his teammate, George Russell.
The damage also affected his mental state. "Obviously, it was also not easy to build the confidence back. Still decently close, and we'll have another go tomorrow," he added.
With this result, Antonelli remains the championship leader, but he will need to be wary of rivals closing in. Mercedes has shown impressive pace at Zandvoort, with Russell dominating the session.
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