Wolff clears Antonelli: “The problem was on the car”. Kimi: “This time I did everything right”

Antonelli, another bad start The starting phase continues to be Kimi Antonelli’s punctum dolens: even in the Miami Sprint he had a bad start, skating and losing traction. Overtaken by Charles Leclerc and – for a moment – by George Russell, the Bolognese was conditioned throughout the short race, which was hard-fought and a chase when he could have been at the top. The penalty for repeatedly exceeding the track limits was the most obvious consequence of this flaw in experience: Antonelli dropped from fourth to sixth place and will now have to make up for it in qualifying. It all started from that uncertain start, even team principal Toto Wolff seems convinced of it. The Austrian exonerated Antonelli, stating that the #12 performed all the procedures perfectly at the start but was fooled by a problem with Mercedes. Wolff’s words “It was difficult to recover with that bad start, which wasn’t Kimi’s fault at all,” admitted the Austrian. “There was a problem, yes, but on our part“. Antonelli’s words “The start, from a procedural point of view, went well”, added Antonelli. “We need to understand what happened, because the clutch release was perfect. For my part, I think I did everything right, for once. It was a shame to start so badly again, because this compromised the whole race.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-05-03 04:31:00