Antonelli admits to not managing 'intense' home pressure 'the best' during disappointing Imola weekend

Antonelli Admits to 'Intense' Home Pressure at Disappointing Imola Weekend

Kimi Antonelli has conceded that he did not manage the pressure of his home race at Imola "the best," following a disappointing Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend for the Mercedes driver.

The Weekend's Challenges

The 18-year-old rookie, who had generally impressed with strong performances prior to Imola, faced heightened media attention and scrutiny at his home event. This included visits from his classmates to the paddock.

After retiring from the race due to a technical issue, Antonelli reflected on the impact of the extra pressure:

"A really intense weekend, mentally and emotionally and I think on my side I didn't manage things the best. I think especially on trying to save energy, I didn't do a really good job on that and I could feel it affect a little bit the driving as well because I could feel I didn't have as much energy."

He noted this as a key learning experience for future home races.

On-Track Struggles

This was not the first time Antonelli experienced pressure at a home event, having crashed during his F1 FP1 debut at Monza last season.

At Imola, he qualified 13th and found himself stuck in a DRS train after passing Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari early on. Despite a beneficial Virtual Safety Car period that moved him into points contention, a throttle issue ultimately forced his retirement.

Antonelli's Reflection

"Definitely was not the happiest of endings," Antonelli stated.

"It was difficult, I mean first thing was mainly stuck in the DRS train and obviously the tyres took a hit so was just trying to hang on and then we were lucky with the VSC and then back on the medium. To be honest I had high hopes but then after a couple of laps I started to have the throttle issue and then at the end it completely went off."

He added that while the issue hampered his performance, the underlying pace wasn't too bad. Antonelli aims to learn from the weekend and improve for the Monaco Grand Prix.