Kimi Antonelli acknowledged that Lando Norris was on a different level at this Sunday’s (26) Hungarian Formula 1 GP and stated that, even starting further ahead, he would hardly be able to contend for victory. The Mercedes driver also admitted that Oscar Piastri’s retirement ultimately favored his recovery to third place.
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The Italian started only in seventh after losing three grid positions for a yellow flag infraction in qualifying, caused by the incident involving Max Verstappen. Still, he managed to reach the podium for the ninth time in 11 races this season and extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the championship to 50 points.
After the race, Antonelli assessed that Mercedes made the most of the opportunities available throughout the race. “I think today we maximized the result. Obviously, we had a bit of luck with the virtual safety car, because of Oscar’s problem, but, apart from that, we did the best we could. The conditions were quite difficult, I had a bit of oversteer, balance problems and then understeer. It wasn’t an easy race, but I’m happy with the result,” he stated.
Even considering that he could have started in third without the penalty, the championship leader believes Norris would still be the favorite for victory. “If I had started in third, it would be a different situation, but I think Lando still had an advantage over us this weekend in pure pace. I don’t believe I could challenge him, especially because it was very difficult to follow another car due to tire overheating,” he explained.
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Antonelli also praised Mercedes’ work in defining the race strategy. According to him, the team took risks at the start of the race, but then opted for a more conservative approach, a decision that proved decisive in putting him in contention for the podium.
“I think it would have been very difficult anyway, but it was a great team effort. In strategy, we took a risk initially and then backed off a bit because we were concerned about safety. Still, they put me in a position to fight for the podium in the end. It was really a great job by the team,” he concluded.
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