F1 Netherlands, Antonelli starts from P3
Two qualifying sessions marked by mistakes for Kimi Antonelli. Yesterday, when the Sprint grid was decided, the World Championship leader ruined everything with a gravel excursion in SQ1 that damaged his floor. Today the slip-up came in turn 1, in the last time attack: it cost him about two tenths, preventing him from the front row.
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The Bolognese will start from third position, behind Lando Norris and George Russell: the F1 World Championship standings (+53 on Lewis Hamilton, +56 on Russell himself) would advise caution, but Antonelli will go on the attack.
Antonelli’s words
“It will definitely be important to make a good start and then try to put pressure on the drivers ahead, maybe doing something different also with the strategy,” this was Antonelli’s comment after qualifying. “We will have a good chance to bring home a nice result. The mindset is the same, I will attack using my head. If the opportunity arises, you take it, otherwise you wait and see how the situation is, I definitely don’t want to do a defensive race.”
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“I lost two tenths in turn 1, a pity. It was a difficult qualifying, I struggled to find the feeling, especially with the rear. But I thought that in Q3 I would have a chance to fight, unfortunately I made a mistake. Seeing the rain coming, I entered too slowly and lost a lot of time. I made a mistake, but I am third,” he added.
For the championship leader, turn 1 will be crucial, since the Sprint showed how difficult it is to overtake even with the new cars. Especially if there is the chance to target Russell.
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