Kimi Antonell with Peter Bonnington - Photo: Race Pictures

Antonelli reveals challenge: 'I can't drive the way I want'

10:43, 13 Oct

byKada Sarkozi

Kimi Antonelli explained his driving style is not necessarily suited to the current generation of Formula 1 cars.

"The limit is so high that, once you pass it, there's no way [to recover], it flips. When you go over it, you have nothing. So the car is just super unpredictable, really hard to control it."

- Kimi Antonelli

The rookie explained where he needs to adjust with the current generation of cars. "I still feel I cannot drive the car the way I want," he began in Singapore.

"My driving style is quite aggressive and I think you guys saw it in few occasion, also Monza FP2, how I tend to throw the car into the corner," he reflected on his incident in Monza, where he spun out and caused a red flag after he became stuck in the gravel trap.

"But it seems like with this generation of cars, you can't really do that. Because maybe of the way the aerodynamics work, the tyres, these cars are very sensitive to width. It's a very sensible car."

Antonelli also pointed out that the point of no return is reached quickly."The limit is so high that, once you pass it, there's no way [to recover], it flips. When you go over it, you have nothing. So the car is just super unpredictable, really hard to control it," he explained.

"And also Monza, when I turned in, I just went over the grip potential of the moment, and I couldn't prevent it. It just went off so quickly that it was so hard to predict."

Kimi Antonelli driving the Mercedes car at the Singapore GP - Photo: Race Pictures

Antonelli aims to adjust, not to change

The rookie added: "With these cars, I'm still trying to change a little bit the way I drive, because still when I have the confidence, I start to throw the car into the corners, and then the problem starts to reappear."

He also underlined that this issue does not happen in every corner.

"What I'm trying to work on is adjusting a little bit my driving style, not changing completely because in some corners the car can take it, but in other corners it cannot.

"It's about trying to understand the moment where you can ask the car more and the corner where I can apply my driving style, and the corner where I cannot.

"It's still not fully natural, but so far I'm doing the steps in the right way," he concluded.

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After a difficult stint over the European leg of the season, Antonelli scored points in Azerbaijan and Singapore, finishing inside the top five on both occasions.

The Italian will race six more rounds in the current generation of cars before the regulation changes take effect in the 2026 season.

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