Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes F1 hoping to take a big step forward Saturday at Imola

According to Mercedes, rookie driver Kimi Antonelli has been “efficient” at analyzing the data overnight and making the necessary changes to increase performance the next day.

Antonelli might need to put in a few extra hours ahead of Saturday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The rookie driver finished the first practice session in P13, as he focused on the soft C6 compound, which makes its debut this week in Imola. During the second practice session Antonelli ran a mix of the C5 medium tire and the soft C6, but his time was only good enough for P18.

“I struggled to put everything together on my single laps today. There were some mistakes on my side and the low grip conditions did not make it ideal to get the C6 compound performing. On the other side, I felt good on the long runs with the car providing a good overall balance. After these two sessions, I know what we need to work on and what I need to do to perform at my best in tomorrow’s Qualifying and Sunday’s race,” began Antonelli in the team’s post-practice report.

Still, Antonelli was able to reflect on his first F1 home race. As noted on Thursday, the 18-year-old driver brought his schoolmates to the track this week and has felt the energy and support from his home fans throughout the week.

“It is obviously a really special race for me. During that first lap in FP1, it felt amazing to see all these fans in the grandstand and along the track. It gives so much energy, and when I put my visor down, I am ready to get the job done,” added Antonelli. “Thank you to everyone who was trackside today cheering the team on; I’m looking forward to seeing that support over the rest of the weekend.

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin found silver linings in both Antonelli’s longer stints, as well as his ability to make needed changes overnight.

“Kimi has been efficient this season in analysing the data overnight and we are sure that tomorrow will be more positive. His long run was strong which bodes well for Sunday even though the C6 compound looks challenging, being softer than what we used last year,” noted Shovlin.

On the other side of the garage, it was a much cleaner day for George Russell, who finished fourth in both FP1 — when he also focused on the C6 soft compound — and in FP2, when he ran a mix of the medium and the soft tires.

“The field was really tight today in both sessions, with a few unexpected teams performing really well. As expected, the McLarens were out front setting the benchmark today,” said Russell. “It is likely that they will be the favorites to set the pace tomorrow in Qualifying; our aim is to hopefully get amongst them.

“We’ll keep working hard tonight to identify areas that we can improve in. If we are able to do so, then we can hopefully reduce the gap to the very front and have an enjoyable Saturday.”

The team also brought their first “significant” set of aerodynamic upgrades to Imola, and Shovlin reported that the new components were working “as anticipated,” an “encouraging” sign for the team.

“We’ve brought our first significant aero updates this weekend and they seem to be working as anticipated,” said Shovlin. “That is encouraging and gives us a solid platform on which we can build the rest of our weekend. It is also our first time with the C6 Pirelli compound this season and that’s led to a slightly unusual program.”

The Mercedes engineer also highlighted just how competitive the field is this season.

“Like most of the cars on the grid, we ran two sets of the Soft compound in FP1, focusing on single lap performance. George’s pace was where we were expecting, consistent with his past performance on a Friday. Kimi still has a bit of work to do overnight on his single lap pace, but the overall picture looks promising.

“The field is tight, and we’ll do our overnight work to see what pace we can bring to final practice. When it is as competitive as we have seen today, every hundredth can make the difference,” added Shovlin.

Antonelli and the rest of the team will be back on the track for the third and final practice session Saturday, ahead of qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.