Andrea Kimi Antonelli has conceded that the upgraded Mercedes Formula 1 car is very unpredictable to drive, following a disappointing showing in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The Italian endured a tricky evening's work at the Marina Bay venue, culminating in a meagre seventh-place position for Saturday afternoon's race as the Silver Arrows struggled to find consistent pace under the lights.
Antonelli continued to use the upgraded aerodynamic package, whereas teammate George Russell reverted to the older iteration of the W17 chassis and successfully found more raw performance to lock out second place on the grid.
Despite securing second place last week in Malaysia, it was evident that the Brackley-based squad did not possess the most competitive overall package this time around, marking a sharp contrast to much of their strong campaign this season.
After jumping out of the cockpit following qualifying, Antonelli admitted that there is still not a full understanding of the upgrades within the engineering department, leaving him feeling that his initial weekend expectations had fallen short.
"Already in FP1, I was struggling; there is still a lot to understand about this package," the title-leader told F1TV. "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."
Predicting a tough weekend ahead, Antonelli has adjusted those targets after failing to match Max Verstappen's stunning pole position lap time by a margin of seven tenths of a second.
"I don’t really see where we can find seven tenths, but you never know," he concluded. "Maybe 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 and then let’s see where we end up tomorrow."
Baca Juga
Fred Vasseur menuntut Max Verstappen dijatuhi penalti lima posisi start setelah lolos dari hukuman bendera kuning di kualifikasi sprint GP Singapura.
Kelemahan upgrade baru Mercedes terungkap di GP Singapura setelah George Russell unggul atas Kimi Antonelli yang memakai paket pengembangan terbaru.
Kimi Antonelli tidak bisa kembali ke spesifikasi lama mobil Mercedes di Singapura karena batasan teknis sidepod dan aturan ketat parc ferme.
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