Antonelli: “Emotions overwhelmed me” in Singapore qualifying

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted that emotion overcame him, leading him to overexert his single-seater in the qualifying session of the Singapore Grand Prix, missing the opportunity to secure a place on the front row of the grid. Antonelli will start from fourth position in Sunday’s race, while his teammate, George Russell, achieved the pole position. After a solid performance in Q1 and Q2, Antonelli encountered traffic on his first attempt at a fast lap in Q3. His second attempt was not perfect, relegating him to the second row, alongside the championship leader, Oscar Piastri. Yes, it was good… Well, Q3 wasn’t good,” Antonelli said on Saturday night. “In Q1 and Q2 I felt strong. In Q3 I let my emotions get the better of me and started driving a bit tense, because I felt I had a real chance to at least be on the front row, because we were fast. But then I started to overshoot and I started to push more and more, starting to carry a lot of speed into the corner. Antonelli explained that, although his times in many corners were faster compared to Q2, he pushed too hard in some key sections, missing the opportunity to capitalize on his potential. The Mercedes driver expressed his disappointment, feeling that the potential was much greater.

Antonelli commented that Saturday’s session was a valuable lesson, especially in Q3, where the excitement led him to make mistakes and focus too much on seeking the lap time, instead of maintaining precision. The driver highlighted how fine the line is between success and failure in Formula 1, and acknowledged Russell’s ability to find the limit in qualifying. After his first podium at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Antonelli’s performance had ups and downs. However, he achieved a solid fourth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku two weeks ago. Despite exceeding in the classification, Antonelli feels in a better moment with the car and maintains a positive attitude towards the race. The driver attributed his irregular performance in the European season to various factors, including a difficult start. After a meeting with the team, Antonelli felt a “wake-up call” that helped him regain confidence and improve his performance.