Kimi Antonelli Miami Penalty Drops Mercedes Driver to Sixth
Kimi Antonelli Miami penalty turned a front-row start into sixth place in Saturday’s Miami Grand Prix Sprint. He started second on the grid, lost ground at Turn 1, and then dropped further after a five-second penalty for track limits violations on multiple occasions.
Antonelli Loses Ground Early
Antonelli fell to fourth at Turn 1 behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, and that early loss set him up to fight from behind in the 19-lap Sprint race. He later said the start procedure was good and that he did everything right on his side, but the bad start still compromised the race.
"Yeah, the start to be fair, on procedure it was all good. We need to check what happened, because the [clutch] drop was good." He added, "On my side, for once I did everything right, so it was a shame to again have a really bad start. It just compromised the race."
Mercedes Weighs The Loss
Toto Wolff said Antonelli’s latest poor start was an issue on Mercedes’ side and was not at all Kimi’s fault. He also said the team had been hoping to hold on to its advantage even as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull made development steps over the April gap.
"We know that we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams." Wolff said, "We were hoping we were going to be able to hold on to our advantage, and in terms of pure lap times, we were close to the pace at the front in the Sprint."
Russell Picks Up The Pieces
The penalty pushed Antonelli behind George Russell, who crossed the line in fourth before being promoted to third after the five-second penalty was applied. Russell said fourth was the maximum Mercedes could have achieved in the Sprint, while Antonelli’s championship lead was cut from nine points to seven.
"I’ve got to be honest, not really. I think it feels challenging for everyone out there. Miami’s a very low-grip circuit, the cars are sliding around a lot, even for the McLarens who are quickest." Russell added, "I don’t think I could have achieved more than the result I got today. This afternoon [in Qualifying for the Grand Prix] I’ll do my best again."
