Kimi Antonelli acknowledged that Lando Norris was operating at a higher level in the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix this Sunday (26) and stated that, even starting further ahead, he would hardly be able to challenge for victory. The Mercedes driver also admitted that Oscar Piastri’s retirement ended up benefiting his comeback to third place.
The Italian started only seventh after losing three positions on the grid due to a yellow-flag infringement in qualifying, prompted by the incident involving Max Verstappen. Still, he managed to reach the podium for the ninth time in 11 races this season and extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton to 50 points in the championship.
After the race, Antonelli assessed that Mercedes took full advantage of the opportunities available throughout the race. “I think today we maximized the result. Obviously we had a bit of luck with the Virtual Safety Car because of Oscar’s issue, but apart from that, we did the best we could. The conditions were quite tough, I had a bit of oversteer, balance problems and then understeer. It wasn’t an easy race, but I’m happy with the result,” he said.
Even considering that he could have started third without the penalty, the championship leader believes Norris would still have been the favorite to win. “If I had started in third, it would be a different situation, but I think Lando still had the pace to beat us this weekend. I don’t believe I could have challenged him, especially because it was very hard to follow another car due to tire overheating,” he explained.
Antonelli also praised Mercedes’ work in shaping the race strategy. According to him, the team took risks early in the race, but then opted for a more conservative approach, a decision that ended up being decisive in placing him in contention for the podium.
“I think it would have been very difficult in any case, but it was a great team effort. In terms of strategy we took a risk initially and then backed off a bit because we were concerned about safety. Still, they placed me in a position to fight for the podium at the end. It was really a great job by the team,” he concluded.
