Kimi Antonelli extends F1 title lead with US GP win Mercedes didn’t expect
The telemetry inside the Mercedes garage after Friday practice at the Circuit of the Americas pointed towards the Brackley squad waiting to pack up for a miserable, point-less weekend. The car was off the pace, the drivers were complaining about the balance, and the recent aerodynamic upgrades looked like a massive misstep.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, and 19-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli is standing on the top step of the podium, spraying champagne and casually extending his world championship lead.
According to Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, the sheer whiplash of going from Friday’s somewhat tractor-like pace to Sunday’s dominant win was nothing short of a miracle.
During the post-race debrief, Shovlin was incredibly blunt about just how lost the engineering department was heading into the weekend.
“Well done to Kimi and everyone in Brackley and Brixworth on the win. After Friday, a race victory simply didn’t look achievable given our single-lap and long-run pace, so it’s been a remarkable turnaround and a very satisfying result,” Shovlin admitted.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Part of the reason for that Friday mishap directly correlates with George Russell’s post-race comments. Russell called the car “rubbish” after finishing down the order, and Shovlin essentially confirmed that the highly anticipated upgrade package they brought back in Malaysia has turned the W17 into a challenging machine.
“There were encouraging signs with the car pace, although since the update it does feel like the set-up window has become a little harder to hit,” Shovlin confessed.
A tale of two garages
The razor-thin set-up window resulted in two completely different races for the Mercedes drivers. While Antonelli figured out how to keep the tyres alive at the front of the pack, Russell’s afternoon was more difficult from the moment the lights went out.
“For George, it was a frustrating afternoon. The penalty for going off track on the opening lap didn’t help and, despite making a strong start to his second stint, he got stuck behind Piastri and couldn’t find a way through,” Shovlin noted.
Getting stuck behind Oscar Piastri’s McLaren effectively made it difficult for Russell to recover from his Lap 1 track limits penalty.
But on Antonelli’s side of the garage, the Mercedes pitwall executed flawlessly under massive pressure. Instead of panicking when tyre degradation spiked on the brutally bumpy Texas asphalt, the strategists trusted their maths.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
“Operationally, though, the team did a very good job. The strategy decisions weren’t clear-cut, but we held our nerve, made the right call to stick with the one-stop, and the pitstops were solid,” Shovlin explained.
Ultimately, Shovlin threw all the credit to his teenage driver, who managed to drag an unpredictable car to a crucial late-season victory.
“Most of all, Kimi should be incredibly pleased with his performances. It was a difficult Friday, but what he produced in qualifying and the race today was exceptional.”
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