How Antonelli struggled to cope with pressures of home F1 race at Imola

Mercedes Formula 1 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted the buzz around his Imola homecoming weekend left him short on energy as he suffered a tricky event.

Antonelli’s first grand prix start on Italian soil – just down the road from his native city of Bologna – did not turn out the way he or Mercedes had in mind, with the 18-year-old struggling for confidence in the car on Saturday before he and team-mate George Russell battled with excessive tyre overheating in the race.

Russell salvaged seventh, while Antonelli was initially able to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay during the first stint but ended up retiring with a throttle issue.

It was an anticlimax for Antonelli after a huge build-up to the race, which started by celebrating Bologna FC’s domestic cup success and involved Antonelli inviting all of his classmates to the paddock. Antonelli was also seen going out of his way to make time for fans in the paddock, handing out photographs and taking selfies.

It was a memorable weekend for Antonelli, which he understandably tried to savour. But, coming just seven races into his fledgling F1 career, he also felt that he is yet to master how to manage all the attention, admitting the whole experience left him lacking energy inside the cockpit.

“Overall, I think the weekend was probably the worst in terms of performance, so that’s why I’ll try to recover well and be back stronger in Monaco,” Antonelli said.

“I absolutely love the support of the fans. I just think on my side I didn’t manage the energy that well, and that compromised definitely the performance on track. I could feel it. I was not as relaxed, I was a bit more tense while driving.

“So, ahead of the next home race, it was a really good lesson. But now we focus on Monaco, because it’s going to be important to be on top of the game.”

Antonelli also acknowledged that perhaps he needs to be a bit more selective in a race weekend with how he invests his time and energy. “I need to learn as well sometimes to say ‘no’ and take a bit more time for myself,” he added.

Team representative Bradley Lord acknowledged that both Mercedes and Antonelli will be taking on board lessons from the Imola weekend as the squad balances out Antonelli’s schedule during his rookie campaign.

“For all of us, and for Kimi, the highest priority first and foremost is performance,” Lord said when asked by Autosport how challenging it was to manage the hype around its latest star.

“We knew this would be a big weekend and there’s been a lot of attention. I think within the team we’ve seen him as focused as ever and concentrated. But, obviously, experiencing all of this for the first time, all the things you can control but also all the things you can’t control, is a new phenomenon.

“We’ve got to view it as a learning experience, understand what were the moments that lifted him and gave him energy, and which bits potentially felt like overload. And then we’ll adapt for both busy race weekends and particularly for the next home race in Italy in September as we go forward.”