A strong Chinese GP for Antonelli turned sour early on, as debris damage ruined what could’ve been a breakthrough race for the rookie.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s race in China was shaping up to be something special—until bad luck struck just seconds after lights out.
The young Mercedes driver ran over debris early in the race, damaging the floor of his car. While he still showed impressive pace, the incident significantly compromised his performance, as Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained.
“It started when Leclerc clipped the rear tyre of Lewis [Hamilton],” Shovlin said. “That broke the vertical fin on his front wing. Kimi saw the part on track but had cars on both sides—he had nowhere to go. He ran over it, and it got stuck under the car, damaging the floor strakes. That cost him quite a bit of performance.”
While it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly how much time was lost, Mercedes has a good idea.
“It’s harder to measure when the damage happens on the first lap, since there’s no clean baseline,” Shovlin noted. “But looking at the aero data, we estimate a loss of about two to three tenths of a second per lap. And that’s just the average—the impact wasn’t evenly spread.”
The damage affected more than just lap times. It disrupted the car’s balance, causing the rear tyres to overheat and lose grip.
“You can try to adjust things during the pit stop—like tweaking the front wing—but once the floor is compromised, it creates unpredictable behavior,” Shovlin added. “It’s not just a couple of tenths missing. Depending on the corner or crosswind, it can feel totally different. Kimi did a great job managing that.”
Shovlin believes that without the early damage, Antonelli could have been fighting at the front.
“Given his pace this weekend, I think he should’ve been right up there with the Ferraris and even Max. It’s frustrating, because he deserved to be in that fight.”
Still, there were plenty of positives. Antonelli continues to grow in confidence and skill as a rookie—and he’s quickly settling into life at Mercedes.
“He’s adapting really well, and working with Peter Bonnington—Lewis’s long-time engineer—is a huge asset,” said Shovlin. “Bono’s helping him understand how to approach race weekends, how to build up speed, and fine-tune the car. The whole team loves working with him.”
“Kimi’s still at the very start of his F1 journey. In Melbourne, he could hardly believe he was on the grid. China was his first wet race—it’s never easy. But he’s learning fast, and there’s a lot more to come.”
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