Antonelli brought 'back to earth' by Azerbaijan GP qualifying crash

F1 points leader Kimi Antonelli says his crash in Q1 has brought him “back to earth” as he attempts to seal his first world championship.

Antonelli crashed out of qualifying less than 10 minutes into Q1 when he thumped the apex wall at Turn 1, breaking his front-left suspension and forcing him to abandon his car in a run-off zone.

The only time he had set before the crash was good enough for 16th on the grid for Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

It was the culmination of a difficult lead-up to the event, with Antonelli missing most of FP1 to a hydraulics problem and then around half of FP2 because his engine needed to be changed, leaving him well down on mileage at the high-speed street circuit.

The 20-year-old Italian has an outside chance to seal the championship at the Singapore Grand Prix, two races from now at the end of the current triple-header. But after making his first major qualifying or race error of the season, Antonelli said Friday in Baku was an important wake-up call that would serve to keep him on his game.

“Very unnecessary mistake,” he said. “Obviously I misjudged [it], with the grip being so different compared to the first lap. I hit the wall – a very unnecessary mistake so early on.

“It’s a good way to come back to earth and to remind myself that I need to be on top of it every time, because otherwise I do these mistakes – and a very stupid one.”

Antonelli has started lower than 16th only once this year – at the Italian Grand Prix, where an engine penalty had him start 19th on the grid. He sensationally won the race regardless.

Russell’s oppressive 0.837s pole advantage suggests Antonelli’s Mercedes car will be in good condition to move forwards in the race, and the Baku layout is usually conducive to overtaking.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he said. “Hopefully we can recover many places. The car is quick. We’re ready to do our best. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be a good race.”

Speaking to SiriusXM, Mercedes deputy principal Bradley Lord said he expected strong damage limitation from the Italian, even if a repeat of his back-to-front Monza victory is unlikely.

“I think it’s a question of clearing Monza out of our heads first and foremost – this is a very different circuit, very different challenge – and just letting it come to him, avoiding trouble early and then hopefully making use of the pace of the car to be able to make progress," he said.

“George’s performance today and the overall pace of the car suggests that he should be able to get well back up into the points and be aiming for a very strong finish and some solid damage limitation in terms of the drivers championship from his point of view, and some solid point-scoring for the constructors championship as well.”