Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team/LAT Images/Sam Bloxham
Antonelli says he struggled a lot with the car in Miami Sprint Qualifying
Formula 1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes F1 Miami 2026 F1 season
Kimi Antonelli was relieved by his second position result in a “messy session” as he struggled a lot to get a pace from his Mercedes. The weekend is difficult for him so far because he didn’t get to try the soft compound in the only Free Practice on Friday.
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Antonelli was struggling on the medium tires through SQ1 and SQ2 but he managed to get second place with lap times on softs in SQ3. His teammate George Russell had to settle for sixth place.
“It was a pretty messy session, I struggled a lot with the car. On the medium I couldn’t get a good lap in, and then on the softs all of a sudden the car became more alive, I felt more comfortable. He commented, quoted by the official Formula 1 website.
“Of course, it was a shame not to try the soft in FP1. I think there was a little bit left on the table. But I think despite everything it was a decent result, and with the team we did a great job on recovering,” he added.
Antonelli also said that they were expecting this weekend to be a bit tougher as other teams brought major upgrades: “They obviously closed the gap massively or even went in front of us.”
“I think we can be in the fight, and that’s what we’re going to try to do tomorrow and then on Sunday as well.” He concluded while also adding that they need to dig deep to see what they can to better in order to be faster.
