Kimi Antonelli can’t let ‘weird’ problem keep happening after suffering from it in back-to-back F1 race weekends

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has scored points in all three of his race starts as a Formula 1 driver so far.

After just missing out on finishing on the podium in Australia, Kimi Antonelli twice added to his points tally during the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend.

The Italian teenager secured a P7 finish in Saturday’s Sprint Race before scoring six more points during Sunday’s Grand Prix.

For the second time in his F1 career, the Mercedes driver’s initial finishing position changed once he crossed the line.

He was initially penalised in Australia for an unsafe release but his five-second time penalty was later revoked and Antonelli then benefitted from both Ferrari drivers being disqualified in China.

It leaves him sitting fifth in the drivers’ championship and Antonelli was voted Driver of the Day for his performance in Shanghai.

However, there is one issue that he needs to get to grips with quickly to avoid throwing any more points away.

He’ll know that he didn’t maximise his potential in China and suffered from a similar issue in Australia.

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Kimi Antonelli must avoid damaging his floor in future F1 races after colling Charles Leclerc’s debris in China

Going into his Grand Prix debut, Antonelli was eliminated in Q1 in Melbourne after suffering a damaged floor during the session.

The grid has converged to such a point that any aerodynamic disadvantage is likely to be the difference between progression and elimination in that scenario.

On Sunday, Mercedes reported Antonelli had damaged his floor again, but this time in a more unfortunate circumstance. 

Journalist Adam Cooper reported on social media: “Kimi Antonelli had costly floor damage from the first lap – he told me he thinks he picked it up running over Charles Leclerc’s lost endplate.”

In his post-race press conference, Antonelli said: “Yeah, they didn’t want to tell me because I would have panicked probably.

“Yeah, I could feel something was weird from lap one. The limitation, yesterday it was a front limitation front-left, and today I was really struggling with the rear the whole race.

“Which was quite unusual, I found it really weird but yeah, then it was really hard to keep up, especially as I was really trying to save the rears as much as possible.

“But yeah, it was a difficult race overall and now it’s time to reset and come back stronger in Japan.”

Asked if he can take any satisfaction from having a good performance despite carrying that damage, Antonelli continued: “Yeah, and now I need to see how much damage [there was].

“But, overall mentally, it was a good lesson, it was a good experience as well as it tough and also trying not to make mistakes was difficult.”

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Kimi Antonelli has to temper his aggression to avoid unfortunate racing incidents

It’s quickly becoming obvious to Formula 1 fans that Antonelli is one of the most aggressive drivers on the grid.

We haven’t seen it yet in terms of daring moves, although Antonelli’s overtake on Alex Albon in Australia did catch the eye in horrific conditions.

Antonelli was confident from the beginning of pre-season testing putting all the experience he’d gained in the past to the test.

There wasn’t much he could have done to avoid Leclerc’s broken end plate during the first lap and coaching him to be even slightly less aggressive under those circumstances could be detrimental.

However, he’s not shy of hitting the curbs hard and will inflict more damage on himself if he’s not careful.

It’s a warning he’ll have to heed but one that someone of his talent should understand very quickly.