Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli hailed his turnaround in qualifying at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix after “being lost” through practice.
Suzuka is a fearsome challenge for F1 rookies and Antonelli has had to build his confidence through the weekend.
Through practice, the young Italian was ninth, 16th and 13th.
Then in qualifying, Antonelli was in the drop zone in Q1 before a final lap saw him safely advance in eighth, he then took seventh in Q2 before landing sixth in the final order, one place behind team-mate George Russell.
“I’m happy with how the session went,” the teenager told select media, including Motorsport Week post-session.
“But on the other side, disappointed because I had to make such a step in driving from free practice.
“I was very lost in practice. I really had no confidence to push more and to progress.
“I was kind of stuck from where I finished in FP1. I had to qualify with very little confidence.
“I had to make a really big step in driving. Overall, I was getting there, step by step.
“But definitely, it’s a good lesson for the next race.”
Suzuka qualifying ‘mentally tough’ for Kimi Antonelli
Antonelli revealed that his turnaround was a significant psychological test.
“Mentally, it was really tough,” he said. “Because when you’re kind of stuck there, you see that you really struggle to make steps.
“Mentally, it’s difficult. Especially because you see that you have to make such a step in all the sectors. Almost every corner, you have to make massive steps.”
Explaining how and why he needed to overcome a deficit, Antonelli said it was down to several factors.
One of those was setup, and the second was confidence.
“The thing is, it’s definitely a really fast track,” he said.
“It’s not easy as well, first sector especially, because it’s quite narrow. But you need to get the timing right with all the turning points.
“But as well, I think, also with the setup, we started quite safe because I didn’t have confidence, so I needed to get confidence.
“As the track was improving and cooling down, I didn’t really have the courage as well to push the setup even further.
“So also, that is something that I learned for the next qualifying. But overall, I’m happy with it because I feel like I maximised the result.
Improvement was due to “a mix of everything,” according to Antonelli.
“What we like to do is rewatch my lap,” he said.
“Because I can see where maybe I could have done better. But of course, I was getting there, step by step.
“Also, I think using two sets in Q1 didn’t really help. But that’s on me because I didn’t do a good enough lap at the start.
“Because I think with two sets in Q3, it definitely could have helped me as well to make a further step.”
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