Incredible F1 record-breaker at Japanese GP admits ‘really bad driving’

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has explained how he turned around his performance in the Japanese Grand Prix, having felt he was driving “really badly" at the start of the weekend.

Antonelli broke the record for the youngest driver to lead a grand prix, having briefly hit the front in his first stint before stopping for hard tyres.

Mercedes driver Antonelli faced one of the biggest challenges of his rookie season at the Suzuka Circuit, one of the hardest circuits on the F1 calendar.

The young Italian “felt lost” during practice as he struggled to get to grips with the 5.8km circuit, finishing more than a second off the pace in FP2. The loss of track time in a red-flag disrupted FP2 session certainly didn’t help his cause.

Kimi Antonelli becomes youngest-ever F1 grand prix leader

However, Antonelli was able to gain the confidence he needed in the W16 when it mattered the most, qualifying his car sixth a solid sixth on Saturday and just two tenths behind teammate George Russell.

But even more impressive was his performance on race day, as he managed to extend his first stint on medium tyres to 31 laps. Even Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who started on the white-marked hard rubber, couldn’t go as long as the driver who replaced him at Mercedes.

That first stint allowed Antonelli to push hard on hard tyres in the second half of the race, where he set a new fastest lap en route to sixth place.

The result also helped Mercedes remain ahead of Red Bull in second place in the constructors’ championship, despite Max Verstappen converting pole position to victory in the lead RB21.

Antonelli admitted that he needs to start race weekends on a stronger note, but was nevertheless happy with his final result in Japan.

“I'm a bit disappointed with how FPs went,” said the 18-year-old. “FP1 was actually quite OK. But then FP2 and FP3 was really bad driving, to be honest, and that took the confidence away.

“But then in quali was able to make a big step forward.

“He added: What I'm most happy about today is the confidence that I had in the car and the confidence to push, which I didn't have on Friday and the start of Saturday.

“The feeling that I had in the car is the most important today. I had a really good feeling and I was able to explore the limit and to push and to play with the car as well.

“So definitely for next time I need to start a bit better for FPs so I am a bit more prepared for qualifying and then we see in the race.”

Antonelli explained that his struggles this weekend were down to a lack of understanding of tyre behaviour at the newly-resurfaced Suzuka circuit.

The famous esses section in the opening sector puts a lot of stress on tyres, while also playing a significant role in how a car performs over the remainder of the lap.

“I was also trying to strike the best out of the tyre, especially in sector one,” he said,

“In FP I was always arriving with no real temperature in the tyre and was just sliding around the first sector and that was taking confidence away.

“I really changed the warm-up. I was having a consistent warm-up every run. It really helped to build the confidence, so that was a good learning.”