Kimi Antonelli speaks candidly: “I was scared at that moment”

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is enjoying his third-place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix, achieved during a challenging weekend for the German team: the Bologna-born driver left his closest rivals—teammate George Russell and the two Ferrari drivers—behind. After the Grand Prix, the leader of the overall standings admitted that he had considered running a one-stop race but ultimately rejected the idea.

“The pit wall was concerned about the condition of the tires because I’d done a very long stint, and they were afraid there might be structural failure. Honestly, I was worried too, because I was starting to see the tire carcass. But I felt good at that moment. We didn’t win, but in the end we limited the damage.”

Starting seventh, Antonelli managed to climb up the order: “It was a difficult race. It was really hard to pass, so we had to get creative with our strategy. During the Virtual Safety Car period, the two Ferraris pitted. I knew it would be very difficult because I was on hard tires and they were on softs, but luckily we managed to keep them behind us.”

Antonelli now holds a 50-point lead and heads into the break with great peace of mind: “It’s an important lead because our rivals are catching up; even McLaren has taken a big step forward, and now we’re all closer together. We struggled a bit more than usual this weekend, but the team will work hard to come back stronger.”