Antonelli makes surprise admission on Mercedes' banned qualifying trick
Photo: Race Pictures
20:30, 20 Apr
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Kimi Antonelli has expressed some relief that the qualifying engine 'trick' used by Mercedes has been banned by the FIA, adding he felt it was "not so safe" at the Japanese GP.
Both Mercedes and Red Bull were said to have found a way to avoid an energy deployment 'ramp down' on their way to the timing line, by instead activating an emergency mode that immediately shuts down their MGU-K.
Under the rules, an engine lockout is thus triggered for one minute, so this 'trick' would make little sense during a race, but could be afforded on the cool down laps in qualifying.
However, for Antonelli, who was left like "a sitting duck" after using the trick at the famed Suzuka Esses, the new ban on the tactic is a welcome change.
As reported by GPblog, the FIA informed the teams in writing that the 'continuous offset' function in the software is intended exclusively for emergency situations, its original purpose.
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Banned Mercedes qualifying trick 'not so safe', Antonelli says
Photo: Race Pictures
When asked on how he felt using the now-banned tactic, which left him "rolling very slowly on track," Antonelli seemed relieved he no longer had to carry out the trick in qualifying.
Speaking to media, including GPblog, Antonelli said: “Obviously, it wasn't the nicest of feelings.
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“Of course, we try to squeeze every bit of performance on one side. But it can come with facing some issues or some unexpected situations."
With no electrical power on his Suzuka cooldown lap, Antonelli said he experienced a "stressful moment" in qualifying, one he is hoping not to experience again.
“I was aware that that could have happened, but obviously I didn't really experience it up until obviously Melbourne and Suzuka.
"Obviously, first of all, it's not so safe, especially in Suzuka. I was a sitting duck in the Esses, and knowing that the track is also not very wide, there's not a lot of space.
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"It was quite stressful, for sure, not being able to do anything, because obviously the car was not responding to any input. And I just was rolling very slowly on track. It was a stressful moment."
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Antoneli happy to drop tactic, despite minimal performance gains
Even with Mercedes set to lose a few hundredths of a second after dropping the trick, Antonelli is still happy to see the back of it.
He added: “It's good to know that obviously, we probably won't face this thing again.
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"Also, in qualifying, you can easily impede someone on a lap, and then you can easily get a penalty. That's not what you want.
“Of course, this comes with giving up maybe a couple of hundredths of a second, so very little time, but at least it gives the confidence that this thing is not going to happen again.”
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Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 72 | |
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