Kimi Antonelli was left to rue a mistake that forced him out of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix after he tagged the barrier.

Antonelli had booked himself a place in Qualifying 2 before a mistake in the dying moments saw his session end in the barrier at the Nouvelle Chicane.

Kimi Antonelli ends Monaco GP qualifying in the barrier

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

On e late flying lap in Qualifying 1, Antonelli made a mistake turning into the Nouvelle Chicane, tagging the barrier on entry to damage his left-front.

The impact was enough to damage his Mercedes’ steering leaving him a passenger as he skated nose first into the barrier in the chicane itself.

Race control threw the red flag to end the opening segment of the three-part qualifying session, confirming Antonelli’s place in Qualifying 2.

However, with his damaged car stranded on track, he took no further part in the session and will start Sunday’s race from 15th.

“Was a really costly mistake, unfortunately,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I clipped the barrier and couldn’t turn for the right, and ended up in the wall.

“It’s obviously a shame because we were kind of coming back with the pace, and so yes, it’s a big shame for sure.”

Antonelli enjoyed a consistent build up to qualifying, ending opening practice with the 11th fastest time, eight-tenths shy of Charles Leclerc’s session-topper.

He narrowed that delta to just over six-tenths as he went ninth-best in Free Practice 2.

However, he dropped time in the final practice hour as he ended the session 10th and more than a second away from the 1:10.953 laid down by Leclerc.

Even still, the Italian remained confident heading into qualifying that the car was in a good place for a strong result.

“We’ve been struggling during the weekend, but in qualifying I was trying to make steps in driving,” he said.

“But yeah, I did a mistake, so I couldn’t keep improving during the session.

“The car was definitely feeling better in qualifying,” he added.

“I was trying to get into the rhythm. It’s just a shame to finish off like this.”

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It’s the second tough qualifying session in a row, after managing only 13th best on home soil at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

There was disappointment in the race there, too, as he rolled to a halt when an electrical issue – reminiscent of that which curtailed George Russell’s Monaco qualifying.

Set to start in the pack, but with new regulations for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix mandating the use of three different sets of tyres, Antonelli suggests there is still a glimmer of hope for the race.

“We’ll try something with the strategy to see if we can do something,” he admitted.

“Just need to reset because it’s been two bad weekends now in a row.

“For sure I will learn,” he added of his baptism of fire in Monaco.

“Even though it’s a really tough weekend, of course it’s not ideal, but definitely learn a lot, and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Antonelli will line up 14th for the Monaco Grand Prix, one place behind Russell after an electrical gremlin forced him out of qualifying without a time on the board in Qualifying 2.

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