"Very mad" Antonelli laments "stupid mistake" after crashing out in Azerbaijan qualifying
Kimi Antonelli has been formidable in the 2026 Formula One season, claiming eight victories and finishing on the podium in every race bar two. With the young Italian's upward trajectory, he has built a comfortable 81-point lead.
But a mistake during the first section of qualifying in Azerbaijan leaves the 20-year-old starting from the back foot for Saturday's Grand Prix. George Russell capitalised on his teammate's misfortune, as the Briton took a much-needed boost in confidence, storming to pole position with a blistering eight-tenths of a second separating himself from Charles Leclerc behind.
Antonelli's costly mistake happened during Q1, as he entered Turn 1, the Mercedes driver's front-left wheel hit the inside of the corner. Upon first glance, the damage didn't look severe, as Antonelli began questioning why the team wouldn't be able to fix it in time. However, another angle highlighted his broken front suspension, drawing an early close to the session.
“A very unnecessary mistake. Obviously I misjudged, with the grip being so different compared to the first lap. I hit the wall, a very unnecessary mistake so early on." Antonelli said to Sky Sports TV after the incident.
“It’s a good way to come back to Earth and to remind myself that I need to be on top of it every time, because otherwise I do these mistakes, and a very stupid one.”
“The grip was coming up very quickly lap-by-lap,” he told Sky. “Obviously I turned in and suddenly I had a lot more front-end compared to the lap before and I touched the wall.
“So it was mistake from my side. Very unnecessary, to be fair. I’m very mad about it and we’ll try to do better tomorrow.”
“The car has been very strong this weekend, so George has been doing incredibly well,” said Antonelli. “We’ll try our best tomorrow to recover as many places as possible.”
The 2025 season taught a valuable lesson: never count out a driver, even with a comfortable gap. Similarly, championship contender Oscar Piastri headed into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix comfortably leading the standings with a sizeable gap of 31 points to Lando Norris and looked on merit to become a world champion.
But a crash in qualifying, a jump start and a crash during the first lap of the race were the first of several woes that hindered the Australian's season and ultimately meant his teammate grasped the championship on the last race.
Quizzed about Antonelli's confidence and if he is beginning to overthink his gap, Russell came to his teammate's defence, highlighting how every champion has made mistakes and stated this was the Italian's first mistake of the season:
"When you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way.
"So, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn't possible any more. But I don't feel any pressure.
"I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.
"When that confidence starts to build, it's just like this upward cycle.
"On the flip side, when you're on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that's when mistakes happen.
"But he's been flawless this season. It's the first mistake he's made in a qualifying or race this whole year." He concluded.
Will Mr Saturday live up to his name and grab his third victory of the year? Or will Antonelli work his magic like he did in Monza and climb from the back of the grid to victory? One thing is for sure: Saturday will be a race not to miss.
Comments