According to Mercedes, the rookie driver Kimi Antonelli has been “efficient” when analyzing the data overnight and making the necessary changes to increase the performance the next day.
Antonelli may need to spend an additional hours before Saturday at Emilia Romagna’s Grand Prix.
The rookie driver finished the first practice session in P13, since he focused on the Soft C6 complex, which makes his debut this week in Isola. Duration The second practice session Antonelli made a mixture of the middle tire C5 and the soft C6, but his time was only good enough for P18.
“Today I struggled to assemble everything in my individual laps. There were some errors on my side and the low grip conditions did not make it ideal to obtain the compound yield C6. On the other side, a good report be row.
Even so, Antonelli was able to reflect on his first career at F1’s house. As noted on Thursday, the 18 -year -old driver brought his schoolmates to the track this week and has felt the energy and support of his local fans during the week.
“Obviously it is a really special race for me. Duration that first round in FP1, felt incredible to see all fans of the thesis in the gallery already throughout the track. It gives so much energy, and when I put my Downell viewer, I am ready”, “thanks to all those who were on the road today encouraging the team; I really want to see that support for the rest of the weekend.
The director of Engineering of Mercedes Trackside, Andrew Shovlin, found silver linings in the longest periods of Antonelli, as well as in his ability to make the necessary changes during the night.
“Kimi has an efficient bone this season in the analysis of the data overnight and we are so together will be more positive. His long career was strong, which is a good omen for Sunday, although compound C6 seems challenge, a softer bee than what we are what we are what we are what we are what we are what we are what we are what we are used.
On the other side of the garage, it was a much cleaner day for George Russell, who finished fourth on both FP1, when he also focused on the soft compound C6, and FP2, when he made a mixture of the medium and soft tires.
“The field was very tight today in both sessions, with some unexpected teams working very well. As expected, the McLarens were in charge of establishing the reference point today,” Russell said. “They are likely to be the favorites to establish the rhythm tomorrow in the qualification; our goal is to take into account among them.
“We will continue working hard tonight to identify areas where we can improve. If we can do it, then we can reduce the gap in front and have a pleasant Saturday.”
The team also brought its first “significant” set of aerodynamic updates to Icola, and Shovlin reported that the new components were working “as expected”, an “encouraging” signal for the team.
“We have brought our first important aerodynamic updates this weekend and seem to be working as expected,” said Shovlin. “That is encouraging and gives us a solid platform in which we can build the rest of our weekend. It is also our first time with the C6 Pirelli complex this season and that has led to a slightly unusual program.”
The Mercedes engineer also highlighted how competitive the field is this season.
“Like most cars on the network, we ran two series of the soft complex on FP1, focusing on the performance of a single round. George’s rhythm was where we expected, consisting of his performance adjusted on Friday. Kimi still has a little work to make the night spend the night.
“The field is tight and we will do our work overnight to see what rhythm we can contribute to the final practice. When it is as competitive as we have seen today, every hundred can make a difference,” Shovlin added.
Antonelli and the rest of the team will return to the track for the third and last practice session on Saturday, before qualifying for the Romagna Grand Prix.
