‘It’s a shame I joined the party too late’ – Antonelli rues early mistakes in drive to P3 in Austrian GP

Kimi Antonelli admitted his disappointment as early mistakes affected his chances of chasing down victory in the Austrian Grand Prix, stating that he felt he “didn’t drive well” during the first stint.

The Mercedes driver endured a shaky start to the race as he veered off the track multiple times on the opening lap whilst trying to improve from P4, and his brake issues ultimately led to him losing a position.

As those up ahead struggled with tyre degradation and headed into the pits, Antonelli inherited the race lead before his own strategy saw him emerge in third place. Despite his best efforts, he ran out of time to pass Max Verstappen for P2 and crossed the line just a few tenths behind the Red Bull racer.

Reflecting on the start, Antonelli said: “I was a bit too excited in the first laps and definitely didn't drive well. Too many mistakes and even in the first stint with the medium, I lost 3-4 seconds with mistakes.

“I was struggling with the brakes but after we changed tyre I reset and the pace at the end was very strong. It was a shame I joined the party a bit too late.”

His experienced race engineer, Pete ‘Bono’ Bonnington, informed him that he was suffering from a brake split that saw one brake get hotter than the other, but the problem seemed to ease as the laps ticked down.

While P3 marks Antonelli’s lowest race finish of the season, the valuable points mean that he still leads his Mercedes team mate by 40 points in the standings, with George Russell also reclaiming second spot with his first Grand Prix win since the opening round.

The Italian conceded that it “would have been a lot of fun” if a few more laps were on offer for him to fight for a better result, especially as Russell took the chequered flag less than two seconds ahead.

“Of course, congrats to George and Max,” he added. “Really great weekend. From my side, there is a lot to improve but still minimise the mistakes.”