The leader of the Formula 1 championship, Kimi Antonelli, has shown notable discomfort after qualifying seventh in the sprint race of the Singapore GP. Despite his 86-point lead over his teammate George Russell, the recent sessions have been complicated for the Italian.
After a race in Sepang where Max Verstappen took victory from pole, Antonelli could do no more than achieve second place, even though his team had introduced a significant update to his vehicle. Now, in Singapore, he maintains the new Mercedes W17, while Russell has reverted to the previous version to compare performances.
Qualifying has not been favorable for Antonelli, who finished the sprint session with a time that leaves him 0.573 seconds behind Russell and 0.693 behind polesitter Verstappen. ‘In FP1 I already had difficulties,’ Antonelli commented. ‘The current setup is difficult to manage and very unpredictable, which makes it hard to complete a proper lap.’
The team principal, Toto Wolff, confirmed Antonelli’s nerves, stating that ‘the new car seems harder to drive’. As the weekend progresses at Marina Bay, Antonelli does not appear optimistic regarding the competition from teams like McLaren and Ferrari.
‘I don’t know where we will find seven tenths,’ he added. ‘But we will work to improve the setup and, hopefully, we will find some solution. We will see what results we achieve tomorrow.’
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
