Antonelli says P2 was Mercedes’ maximum at Sepang
Kimi Antonelli said P2 was the most Mercedes could have achieved in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, where he finished 2.307 seconds behind Max Verstappen. He said Mercedes had faced reliability problems this season; after George Russell retired, Antonelli led his team-mate by 84 points.
Kimi Antonelli said P2 was the most Mercedes could have achieved in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, where he finished 2.307 seconds behind Max Verstappen at Sepang.
Antonelli said the team had been struggling more than usual and still had work to do, though he was pleased with second place. He said he had thought a win was possible after the start. Antonelli and George Russell passed Verstappen at lights out, but Verstappen retook the lead at Turn 1 at the first Safety Car restart. Russell then passed Antonelli at Turn 5; Antonelli regained second at Turn 4 on Lap 21.
Russell’s Mercedes stopped on the start/finish straight after 49 laps, ending his race. Antonelli said Mercedes had been suffering from reliability problems this season and that it made it important for him to do his best on track, particularly in areas under his control. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described Russell’s retirement as a power-unit failure, said it was not caused by the Safety Car and added that Mercedes had not yet assessed the issue.
Antonelli now leads Russell by 84 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Sources 03
- PRIMARY SOURCE'P2 was the maximum we could have achieved' – AntonelliFormula 1
- PRIMARY SOURCEF1 – Verstappen wins dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia ahead of Antonelli and HamiltonFIA news and transcripts
- PRIMARY SOURCEWolff ‘not in a happy place’ after Russell Malaysia DNFFormula 1
Claims and supporting evidence 9
This is Antonelli’s attributed post-race assessment.
The FIA race account gives the result and time gap.
These are his attributed post-race comments.
This is his attributed account of his thinking during the race.
The FIA race account describes this sequence.
The FIA race report records the stoppage and retirement.
The reliability remarks and his description of his own approach are attributed to Antonelli.
This is Wolff’s attributed post-race account; he also said the issue had not yet been assessed.
The post-race report gives the championship margin.
Corrections and updates to this story
Antonelli says P2 was Mercedes’ maximum at Sepang
EN: Updated to add Antonelli’s comments on Mercedes’ reliability and his approach on track, plus Wolff’s statement that Russell’s power-unit issue had not yet been assessed. NL: Bijgewerkt met opmerkingen van Antonelli over de betrouwbaarheid van Mercedes en zijn aanpak op de baan, plus Wolffs verklaring dat het probleem met Russells power unit nog niet was beoordeeld.
Antonelli says P2 was Mercedes’ maximum at Sepang
Manual editorial correction: clarified wording and attribution and removed repeated or source-process prose where present. The underlying reporting and sources are unchanged. / Handmatige redactionele correctie: formuleringen en bronvermelding verduidelijkt; herhaling en controletaal verwijderd waar aanwezig. De verslaggeving en bronnen zijn behouden.
This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.