Photo: Race Pictures

Antonelli upbeat after career-first on Friday: 'Pace looks good'

18:29, 25 Oct

byOlly Darcy

A hopeful Kimi Antonelli believes "the pace looks good" for him and Mercedes for the rest of the Mexico City Grand Prix, which resulted in a season-first from Friday's running.

"The track is going to evolve, and it's going to be important to evolve as well."

- Kimi Antonelli

The 18-year-old finished P2 and P3 in the first two practice sessions, respectively, on the opening day of on-track action around the Autodromo Hermanso Rodriguez.

With those results, a brand-new feat was achieved, finishing inside the top three in both Friday sessions for the first time in his career, finding three-tenths more pace than teammate George Russell in FP2.

"It was a decent Friday, probably one of the best Fridays I've had in a long time," a buoyant Antonelli explained in Mexico City.

Kimi Antonelli in action during FP2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures

"I think FP1 was great, FP2 was a little worse, as we tried some setup changes, and in some ways improved the car, but in other ways made it a bit worse. But there is a lot of data that we could get from these two sessions.

"I had a little issue with the engine at the start of the session, and halfway through my second lap, so it just made the run plan a little bit worse.

"I was a bit more rushed with everything, but still, we were able to complete all the laps that we needed, and that was the most important, with quick laps too."

Antonelli hoping for second podium in 2025

In his debut season in Formula 1, Antonelli has had several ups and downs, currently sitting P7 in the drivers' championship with 89 points.

A P3 finish at the Canadian Grand Prix gave the young Italian his maiden podium finish, but a tought stretch of ten Grands Prix after that Montreal result saw him out of the points in seven races.

A couple of positive performances in Azerbaijan and Singapore have propelled Antonelli back to the front, and he will be hoping to use that confidence gained from Friday's running in Mexico in qualifying on Saturday.

"[Being at the front on Saturday] would be great, the pace looks to be good," continued the Italian.

"But of course, Saturday is going to be another day. The track is going to evolve, and it's going to be important to evolve as well with the driving and with the car."

Before any on-track action has taken place on Saturday, plenty of words have been exchanged between McLaren and Red Bull, with Helmut Marko the latest to do so, laughing at a claim made by Andrea Stella on Friday.

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