Kimi Antonelli’s Formula 1 education continues apace, and the Mercedes rookie learned a few more lessons in Bahrain last weekend.
He was given plenty to think about after a superb initial P4 in qualifying turned into 11th place in the race – and for the first time he failed to score any points.
Nevertheless the Italian’s progress in qualifying over recent events provides an intriguing indication of how he’s moving along his F1 learning curve.
Saturday in Australia was spoiled by floor damage, but over the next three weekends his results in Q1/Q2/Q3 were P10/P9/P8, P8/P7/P6 and P6/P5/P4.
The last result became P5 on the grid with a penalty that was no fault of his own. However, the numbers show that not only is he getting better by the weekend, but he also improves through each qualifying session, and does his best lap when it counts most.
The race in Bahrain wasn’t straightforward for Antonelli. He lost a couple of places at the start, but thereafter was still very much in contention for points, and fighting with some big names, notably Max Verstappen.
He was pitted and given soft tyres just before the safety car came out. Rather than leave him out to gain track position the team stopped him again for more soft tyres.
That third pit visit put him out of synch with the cars that he had been fighting, and left him 11th at the flag. It’s all part of his ongoing education.
“It was pretty confusing,” he conceded when I asked him about his race. “Lap one was a bit borderline, because I got pushed off in six, and then obviously lost three places, but then I was fighting back. I was back to P5. And then in the first pit stop, I knew I would have got undercut, because obviously I pitted one lap later.
“But then obviously I was able to progress again. On the medium, honestly I was struggling, because I pushed a bit too hard on the on the out lap and first lap, and then cooked the tyre. And then I found myself a bit struggling, but I still had decent track position.
“And then I put the soft again. And after two laps, obviously the safety car came out, because there was debris, and there we need to review why we made the call to go back in. Because many other people stayed out, Verstappen stayed out, and Ocon stayed out, and they were behind.
“And so we need to review why that. At the same it’s always easy to talk after, but we need to review why it happened in order to improve it for Jeddah.”
Antonelli simply did what the team told him to do on strategy.
“I didn’t decide,” he said. “I just asked them if they were sure on the last pit stop to go back in because obviously it was two laps on the tyre. And I didn’t have any new tyre, I put another used soft.
“So definitely, we need to review why. But overall, also my side I didn’t do everything perfectly, and I definitely need to see when I need to do better for Jeddah.”
His race included an incident that earned Carlos Sainz a penalty for forcing him off track: “I saw [him] in the last moment. Luckily I opened the steering wheel, because we would have crashed for sure. I don’t know if he just missed the corner, or if he just launched in.”
Antonelli’s honesty in admitting that he needs to do better is refreshing. He’s learning by the weekend, and quietly putting all the pieces together.
“Qualifying was a good step forward in terms of pace,” he noted. “Also, I felt much more comfortable racing with others, much better making overtakes, moves. I felt quite comfortable with it.
“So definitely there are positives to take away. Of course, it was not what I was hoping for, because I was aiming for a lot higher.”
Bahrain was the first venue on the 2025 schedule that he’d experienced with an F1 car, so that gave him a head start that he hasn’t enjoyed elsewhere.
“On some tracks, like Suzuka, I felt really good with the car,” he said. “But obviously, I think it will take still a few races just to understand everything, especially on different tarmacs, on tarmacs like this, that are super open and the deg is big. So still a lot to learn.
“And definitely, I still am not even halfway. So much more confidence to take with the car and better understanding, especially in the race, how much to push.
“Suzuka was a race where I didn’t have to really worry about deg. And this was the first race where deg was massive. And plus as well I found myself in a DRS train, so deg was double. Still lots to learn.”
Jeddah will be another new experience for the teenager despite knowing his way around the track, simply because of the speeds involved and the lack of margin for error.
“I did it of course in the F2,” he said. “It’s going to be the first city track with the F1, so it’s going to feel quite quick, definitely, because the pace difference between the two cars is quite big. So the first few laps are going to feel fast. But I think we can do good.”
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Adam Cooper F1 