Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Baku

Antonelli reveals what stopped him from finishing on the podium in Baku

09:51, 01 Oct

Updated: 11:02, 01 Oct

byLuke-John Buckle

Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in fourth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with one key element of the race keeping him off the podium.

"It's a shame because I lost quite a bit of time behind him."

- Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli was very competitive over the weekend in qualifying and the Grand Prix. He started fourth and stayed there, but the Mercedes driver feels his battle with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson cost him.

"I could see when he was using the energy and when he wasn't. You know, I was struggling quite a bit on traction.

"I was getting close to the end of sector one and halfway through sector two, but then in all those critical traction phases, I was struggling and just couldn't get the momentum.

"Only on hard I had quite a bit of pace advantage and I could get past, but it's a shame because I lost quite a bit of time behind him, especially in the first stint, and probably the outcome could have been different, but you know, still decent result, and we'll try to do better in Singapore.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli Photo: Race Pictures

Antonelli was much improved in Azerbaijan compared to previous races and was on the verge of scoring his first podium since June's Canadian Grand Prix.

He struggled at Monza during the Italian's second home race of the year, finishing in ninth place while teammate George Russell drove to fifth place.

Azerbaijan was a significant step up and the 19-year-old was pleased with his progression after the Italian Grand Prix.

"It [Monza] was pretty poor, and this track is quite a bit more difficult, and there was no margin of error.

"It was very intense, you know, the pace was very high, and yeah, just you know, there's Driving-wise, I did a couple of mistakes, but also fair to say it was the first time in Baku with Formula 1, and also we didn't do any long run in practice.

"So it was a bit of a discovery, of course, for everyone as well. But, you know, still decently happy and much better race than Monza," Antonelli told GPblog and others.

Antonelli was disappointed as the podium was close

Antonelli has only scored one podium this year, which came in Canada, although this was followed by two consecutive retirements in Austria and Silverstone.

The Italian driver was on the verge of scoring another third place in Azerbaijan, and Antonelli's ambition meant he wasn't completely happy with the result.

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