Andrea Kimi Antonelli has explained that he struggled to get used to Formula 1‘s ultra Soft tyre compound during the European triple-header, which contributed to a poor run of results.
The Mercedes rookie has enjoyed a bright start to his F1 career, having scored points in all but one of the six rounds before the first races in Europe.
He also stunned everyone by taking pole position for the Miami Sprint Race, which further cemented his status as a rapidly rising star.
But he naturally found a blip in the road, and the team’s overall struggles in the triple-header saw his results slump.
Ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli talked of how he found it hard to, quite literally, get to grips with the C6 compound, and its unpredictability and changes in certain windows.
“I think, above all, the new C6 – Imola and Monaco – I’ve been struggling to find the consistency in the tyre, just to find the consistent performance of the tyre,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“The C6 seems to be a super picky tyre, and it’s really difficult to put it in the right window already from the out lap. That’s what I’ve been struggling with.
“In Imola, I was having such a swing of performances between sessions. In FP3 in Imola, I remember we were up there, and then in qualifying I suddenly lost five or six tenths compared to FP3. So I’ve been really struggling to understand the tyre and to put it in the right window, and that took some confidence away.
“That’s why I feel in Barcelona it was nice to get back into the rhythm. But at the same time, especially at the start of the session, it took me too long to get into the rhythm.
“That was also because I had two really difficult qualifying sessions in the previous two events. So definitely, I think that was the main issue.”
Tyre homework and simulator time gives Antonelli confidence for Canada
Antonelli explained that, with the gap between Barcelona and Canada being two weeks rather than just the one, he has found time to gain a better understanding of the C6 compound.
The 18-year-old has done this through spending time back at Brackley with analysis and time spent in the simulator.
“During the week we had off, I spent a couple of days at the factory doing some sim work and also trying to analyse the C6,” he said, “analyse when it went well, why I was able to extract the performance, and when it went badly, what I did differently. I’ve been understanding quite a few things.
“Obviously, Montreal is a completely different track – close tarmac, a lot of low speed, and also quite cold eventually. So I’ve been trying to really work on that in order to have a better idea, so I know how to behave better, especially this weekend.”
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