Antonelli explains session-ending spin during FP2 at Monza as he insists ‘confidence is still high’

Kimi Antonelli has admitted that he simply “pushed a bit too hard” too early during second practice for the Italian Grand Prix, with a spin ending his session after just 10 minutes of running.

Antonelli, returning to the scene of his dramatic FP1 debut 12 months ago, lost control of his Mercedes at the exit of Monza’s Lesmo 2 corner in the opening exchanges of FP2 and ended up beached in the gravel.

Talking through the moment, which followed a similar off during FP1 at Zandvoort last time out, Antonelli said: “I mean, I just pushed a bit too hard for the grip in the moment. It was a shame. The day was looking good; I had a good FP1 and then the start of FP2 was looking strong.

“My confidence is still high, just obviously tomorrow I will have to do a bit of a different programme [in FP3]. We’ll try to be ready for anything.”

He added: “I felt pretty confident [before that]. We were moving in the right direction with the set-up. Obviously it’s a shame to miss laps, but on my side I’ll try to get ready and to deliver the best job tomorrow.”

As for Saturday’s action and what might be possible when it comes to Qualifying, Antonelli is hoping the “amazing” home atmosphere can spur him on to a strong result in what looks set to be another ultra-close session.

“I think Qualifying is going to be very tight, as always,” he said. “It looks pretty close out there – in four-tenths there were 10 cars [at the end of FP2]. It’s going to be very tight.

“But as I said, the pace felt pretty good today. We’ll just try to deliver the best job as possible and try to start as far forward as possible tomorrow.”

On the other side of the Mercedes garage, George Russell ground to a halt in the closing stages of FP1 with a hydraulics issue, but he got back out on track for the start of FP2 and ended the day in 10th position.

“It was a tricky day to be honest,” Russell said afterwards. “I think always when you come to Monza, you’re back on that low downforce [package], so the car’s sort of floating around and the rear’s pretty loose. It didn’t feel spectacular out there for us today.

“Obviously it’s very close on the leaderboard; I think I was P10 but only three-tenths off – usually three-tenths would be just behind the McLarens. It’s tight, I expect that to be the same tomorrow, and I’m sure we can make some improvements.”