Andrea Kimi Antonelli is aiming to “deliver the job” at this weekend’s Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after facing criticism from his Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff.
The young Italian has suffered through the European leg of the F1, with crashes and Q1 exits coming frequently throughout the races.
Last month’s Dutch GP was another difficult weekend for Antonelli, taking out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after an overambitious overtaking manoeuvre.
And his most recent outing at Monza got off to a bad start, when he found the gravel in the second practice session of the weekend.
While team-mate George Russell finished in fifth, Antonelli was resigned to ninth, his second and third points in the last six races.
Wolff did not sugarcoat his assessment of Antonelli after the race, claiming his performance was “underwhelming”.
And Antonelli, speaking ahead of this weekend’s race in Baku, admitted that he understood Wolff’s perspective.
“Well, I think I pretty much understand his comment,” he said. “You know, me and Toto are always very open with each other, and we talk to each other quite openly.
“I think it was mainly about the race. Qualifying was actually pretty good, despite the off in FP2.
“But then in the race, especially on the Hard tyre, I struggled a little bit. Also, I made a mistake at the start.
“So I think it was mainly related to the race, which I agree wasn’t the best. But I took it positively – as fuel to do even better for this race weekend.”
Antonelli hoping to complete ‘clean sessions in Mercedes at Baku
With the final stint of the season underway, the young Italian is looking to keep his nose clean, his Silver Arrow out of the gravel and collect points in each round.
His first aim was to have clean sessions and complete the run plans in front of him.
“First of all, just trying to have clean sessions.” He told the media, “In Monza, I went off in FP2 super early and ended up not doing long runs.
“I went completely blind into the race, didn’t get to feel the car on high fuel at all. It was a bit difficult because I had to learn in the moment, and on the Hard I just struggled to find my rhythm, so that was not ideal. But the speed in qualifying was much better in Monza, so hopefully we can carry this into this weekend as well.
He reiterated his goal for the weekend and circled qualifying as one of the key areas he wanted to improve.
“The main goal is just to have clean sessions and get as many laps as possible in the bag, and then deliver the job in quali and in the race.”
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