Andrea Kimi Antonelli did not have a great first Formula 1 race on home soil at Imola last weekend after the Mercedes rookie retired from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Bologna boy stomached a heartbreaking homecoming at the track just 25 miles from his birthplace. Antonelli bowed out in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna GP in Q2 having posted the 13th-fastest lap time and only enjoyed 46 laps before his throttle issue became terminal.
Antonelli had managed the throttle issue for some time before the Mercedes rookie ground to a halt on the run to the Alta chicane. He was running in the top 10 at the time, but had to instead face the 18-year-old’s first retirement of his rookie Formula 1 season in round seven.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s ‘flawless’ rookie image ‘suffered’ with his lack of speed at Imola
Antonelli admits the Mercedes rookie ‘hurt’ his chances at Imola by not giving himself more time, after ‘wasting energy’ focusing on the occasion of his first home F1 race instead of the Emilia Romagna GP. George Russell showed the W16 could do more after qualifying in third.
Additionally, Jacques Villeneuve heard Mercedes were not ‘super happy’ with Antonelli at Imola after the teenager invited his school class to the paddock, adding another distraction to the occasion. But Marc Surer feels Antonelli’s biggest issue at Imola was his lack of pace.
READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats
| POS | DRIVER | AGE | TEAM | RACE (RESULT) |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 17 years, 180 days | Toro Rosso | 2015 Malaysian GP (P7) |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 18 years, 208 days | Mercedes | 2025 Australian GP (P4) |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | 18 years, 225 days | Williams | 2017 Canadian GP (P9) |
| 4 | Oliver Bearman | 18 years 306 days | Ferrari | 2024 Saudi Arabian GP (P7) |
| 5 | Lando Norris | 19 years, 138 days | McLaren | 2019 Bahrain GP (P6) |
The teenager was 0.438 seconds slower than Russell in Q2 as the 27-year-old took fourth in the second stage. Antonelli was also 35.802 seconds from race leader Max Verstappen as a virtual safety car period started to recover the stricken Haas of Esteban Ocon on Lap 29/63.
“He simply wasn’t fast enough,” Surer has told Motorsport-Total. “His previously flawless newcomer image has therefore suffered.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is still yet to finish an F1 Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell
Antonelli had a weekend to forget at the Mercedes rookie’s first home F1 race after failing to get into Q3 at Imola and failing to finish the Emilia Romagna GP. It was his first DNF in F1 and Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth at Imola drops Antonelli to seventh in the drivers’ standings.
He now has just 48 points compared to the 99 that Russell has earned to sit fourth in the F1 drivers’ championship ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. Also, his struggles at Imola followed Mercedes boss Toto Wolff urging Antonelli to improve his tyre management.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
146 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
133 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
124 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
61 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
53 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
While the Bologna boy has shown strong speed over a single lap since replacing Hamilton at Mercedes, especially as Antonelli scored pole position for the Miami F1 Sprint, his race pace has not matched Russell’s standards. He is also yet to finish a Grand Prix ahead of the Briton.
The average gap between the Silver Arrows duo in the Grands Prix where both have finished is 17.240s. But Antonelli’s deficit to Russell in the races is also largely skewed by the Chinese GP (42.651s) as he lost 0.3s per lap due to damage to his floor and the Bahrain GP (32.517s).
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