Kimi Antonelli rues “very unnecessary” crash during Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying as Mercedes teammate George Russell takes pole

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Kimi Antonelli will start Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 16th after an early qualifying crash at the Baku City Circuit, which Mercedes says left damage to the front-left corner of his car. In the published Formula 1 report, Antonelli began a Q1 lap and hit the inside concrete wall at Turn 1, forcing him to stop on track as instructed by his race engineer, Peter Bonnington.

Although Antonelli’s lap time technically progressed him to Q2, the Italian watched the remainder of qualifying from the sidelines and was ultimately classified 16th. Formula 1 quotes Antonelli saying it was a “very unnecessary” and “very stupid” mistake made so early in the session, attributing it to misjudging grip compared with the opening lap.

The same report confirms Mercedes teammate George Russell stormed to pole position. Russell set the fastest time ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with the margin reported as almost a second over Leclerc.

With the pole sitter now positioned near the front, Formula 1 reports that Antonelli, who leads Russell by 81 points in the championship going into the 51-lap race, believes his car can move forward on race day. Antonelli is quoted looking forward to recovering “many places,” noting the car is quick and expressing hope for a strong race on Saturday.