Kimi Antonelli blamed going into “autopilot” mode as the reason for his hair-raising moment late in the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – vowing it will never happen again.
The 19-year-old won from pole on Sunday to take his maiden grand prix victory, leading team-mate George Russell in a Mercedes 1-2 having controlled much of the contest.
Antonelli took the chequered flag by 5.515s, but it could have been more had it not been for his lap 53 incident where he locked up at Turn 14 and went off with three tours remaining,
That reduced his nine-second advantage to seven, so it didn’t hurt him too much, but was still a nerve-wracking moment for the sophomore racer. It led race engineer Peter Bonnington to suddenly come onto the radio to say “let’s just get this home”.
Speaking of the incident, Antonelli said: “I braked a little later, the tyres were practically finished and there was a tailwind, so there were a few factors.
“But I had a good margin, luckily. When I watched the footage again before going to the podium, I was stunned. I was alone, nice and calm, and I made a mistake. But now I can say it went well and it won’t happen again.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“There was a phase of the race where I managed things a lot, then when the team told me I could push, I started lowering the times. I was enjoying myself, maybe even too much, since on the lap where I made the braking mistake, I was really pushing hard and there was no need.
“It became one of those situations where it feels like you’ve switched on autopilot, you’re driving without any mental effort, but I relaxed a bit too much and the mistake came. A lesson learned.”
The win on Sunday leaves Antonelli second in the championship after two rounds, four points behind Russell who won both the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Shanghai sprint.
The Silver Arrows is the team to have nailed the 2026 regulation change, which presents Antonelli with a great opportunity to fight for wins and even championships this early in his career.
When a potential title challenge was put to him, the Italian said: “We’ve only had two races, and I think there are about 20 more to go.
“Right now I just want to enjoy this result, while really keeping my feet on the ground. I’m aware that I’m part of a great team and that I have a very good car that doesn’t rule out any objective: we can fight for the championship.
“But beating George is definitely not easy – we need to keep working and pushing.”
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Beating Russell is certainly hard, particularly as the 28-year-old is now in his eighth season of the championship so, in reality, should be coming out on top against his teenage team-mate.
“Experience,” is what Antonelli put down as his room for improvement. “That means being able to put everything together when it matters and reduce mistakes to the absolute minimum.
“Experience plays a crucial role because it allows you to have the situation under control in every condition: even when you’re struggling you can find a way out quickly.
“But I want to play my cards. At the start of this year I said I would try to be as ready as possible, because the opportunity I have doesn’t come around very often.”
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