Andrea Kimi Antonelli admits he has a lot of catching up to do after a “tricky” start to the 2026 Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend.
The 19-year-old comes into the race weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a 66 point lead in the drivers’ standings.
But his outings in the opening practice sessions, on Friday, have failed to replicate his dominant form so far this season.
FP2 saw the Italian racing driver as much as six tenths behind the leading MCL40 of Lando Norris.
Heading into the final practice session, and qualifying, on Saturday, Antonelli conceded that he has quite a bit of catching up to do to his championship rivals.
“The brakes, usually on a Friday we use a really used set so tomorrow it’s not going to be a problem,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“George [Russell] looks very quick, McLaren looks very quick as well.
“So, it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll try to understand from tonight’s work, and we’ll try to be ready for tomorrow.”
Kimi Antonelli relying on Mercedes’ long-run pace to overcome qualifying deficit at F1 Barcelona GP
Friday running has given Antonelli a concerted view at the challenges he will have to overcome throughout the weekend.
The Mercedes driver has envisaged a “tricky” qualifying, with the W17 unable to operate in an optimum window, over a single lap, owing to tyre overheating.
“It’s been a bit tricky over a single lap, just the window is so small, tyres are overheating quite a lot,” he explained.
“I’m just trying to find the best balance, with only one lap per set, it’s always difficult, but overall, there’s still work to do, quite a bit.”
Despite this apparent weakness over a single lap, Antonelli has shown his brilliance in race trim, this season.
This weekend, too, the Italian expects a similar turnaround, only augmented by the promising long-run pace he saw on Friday.
“I’m quite confident ahead of tomorrow. The long run was good in the practice, so that’s a positive,” Antonelli concluded.
“Definitely looking forward to tomorrow and looking forward to the changes that we’re going to make.”
Naturally, Antonelli will be hoping to make it six consecutive Grand Prix wins for him in 2026, at Barcelona, this weekend.
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