Andrea Kimi Antonelli expands on diverting his energy more towards racing and things than on guests and friends after Imola, as Toto Wolff states the mistake won’t be repeated.
The weekend in Imola didn’t go as per plans for Mercedes’ Antonelli. He had his classmates, family, friends and whole lot of team guest to attend to from Thursday itself. It was rigorous off-track as there were too many people he had to see, sign autographs, speak, take photos, and more.
By the time he started the weekend, whether practice and or the important sessions of qualifying and the race, Antonelli was mentally drained. He couldn’t concentrate as much as he has done in other weekends. The focus was not there, which was one of the reasons to be knocked out in Q2.
It didn’t get better by much in the grand prix as well. This has helped him to understand about approach to his race weekends. He didn’t blame the sponsor activities, but the extra bits in it to attend everyone which creates problems. He has to find time for himself and spend it with his engineer.
This should help him to approach the weekend in Monzo in a better way. “Definitely it was an intense weekend, mentally was very intense and very demanding,” said Antonelli to media. “On my side, my first home race, there was lots going on and I think I didn’t managed my best on my side, especially energy wise. I feel like I didn’t do a good enough job and I could feel it when going in the car.
“Definitely I could feel mentally I was not as present as I usually was and I wasn’t as focused. But it’s not because I was thinking about anything else. It was just when you’re a bit mentally tired, it’s also hard to keep the focus. So, definitely I feel on that side I didn’t manage myself, my energy super well and I couldn’t also perform on track like I wanted.
“Obviously it was a very disappointing weekend on my side. It was a big lesson learned – especially ahead of the next home race, which is going to be Monza, but ahead of the next races in general. In Imola, there was nothing wrong with the approach, I think it was more about outside driving that I didn’t manage well.
“The thing is when you go in the car not with the right focus and also when you spend a bit of energy, you are not able to prepare well for the session, you feel it when you go in the car. Driving a F1 requires 100% of focus and commitment, even if you are 97%, it is little but it makes such a huge difference, especially now a days where the gaps are super close between every cars and drivers.
“I got into a nice way of approaching sessions, especially Miami I think really helped me as well for qualifying. I think in terms of approach it will be very similar to what I always did but definitely on the other hand, it is going to be much calmer weekend on my side. And definitely I can really dedicate all my time and everything to prepare the best way possible the session, in order to perform well on track.
“It was not really about the sponsor activities, of course I was well aware before starting the weekend will be busier than usual but I think on my side, what I mean is spending and giving a lot of time to some other people – not my engineer. I am talking about maybe my friends, also people who were attending the race that were out guest.
“I think what I mean that I didn’t manage well was that – spending and giving too much energy on that. And then having not enough energy left for the driving which obviously was the most important bit. It was not really about team’s activities but was more about myself. How I managed it with of course, people who came to watch, which of course we invited because obviously it was my home race and a really special weekend for me, and we wanted to share this experience also with some of our closest friends.
“But at the same time, I realised too late into the weekend that I was wasting too much energy on that side and not having enough energy left for the important bit,” summed up Antonelli, who found support from team boss Wolff. Even though the Austrian missed the weekend, he understood the problems the Italian faced and it is something they will not repeat the next time.
“I think, this is a learning process,” said Wolff. “I think, we concluded last year that we’ve made a mistake in maybe exposing him in Monza in his first ever running in FP1 to the local crowds, and he wanted to perform particularly well. And I think that Imola was probably the perfect storm because it’s where he lives. It’s his home track, school, family, local football club, all the people that helped throughout his career. Everybody wanted to have a little bit of Kimi.
“And even as early as Friday, he was just toast. And I spoke to him on Saturday. He said, “I’m out of energy of all of this.” And it’s clear, he’s young, he wants to say thank you to everyone that participated. He doesn’t want to be unfriendly to friends, family, fans, all them around.
“And it’s also, like, what I—the guidance I gave to him, at a certain stage, you need to be—you need to protect yourself, hide yourself in your room, in the engineering room on the Sunday, and everything else just comes second. And I think all of us together, the family, we realized that that was too much, and that is a mistake we will not repeat.”
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