Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he found the latter stages of the Canadian Grand Prix “very stressful” after claiming his first podium finish in Formula 1.
Mercedes’ rookie driver rebounded from three consecutive point-less races, including two retirements due to technical problems, to stand on the rostrum for the first time yesterday. He qualified fourth and overtook championship leader Oscar Piastri at the start of the race, then kept the battling McLaren drivers behind him at the end.
However Antonelli revealed he was beginning to struggle with his tyres when Piastri caught him. “I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest,” he said. “I was even looking at the screen counting the laps because it was very stressful.
“In the last stint, I pushed a bit too hard behind Max and eventually degraded the front-left [tyre]. The last few laps were a struggle, especially seeing Oscar getting closer and closer in the DRS range. At one point, he even tried to attempt an overtake in turn one. It took a lot of effort.”
Antonelli put some space between him and Piastri as the pair worked their way past lapped cars. Piastri then closed on him again, but dropped back when he was attacked by Lando Norris. The Safety Car was deployed after Norris crashed and remained out until the finish, securing Antonelli’s best finish in F1 to date.
The result “meant a lot”, said Antonelli, “especially after a difficult triple-header on my side. That definitely took some confidence away, but this was the best way to bounce back.”
He said the feeling of stepping onto the podium was “much better than what I imagined.”
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“Hearing the crowd while walking onto the podium, I had massive goosebumps. That is definitely a moment I will remember for a very long time.
“It gives you a boost, results like this. You can’t buy this feeling. It’s an amazing feeling and you just want more.
“I think the goal now is to try to keep the same momentum and try to achieve more podiums, and hopefully maybe the first win, you never know, in the future.”
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