Kimi Antonelli pleased to extend standings lead after ‘tough race’ in Hungary

Kimi Antonelli felt that he maximized his alternatives in the “tough” Hungarian Grand Prix to declare the ultimate spot on the rostrum, permitting him to enhance his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

In a completely difficult weekend for mercedesthe Italian wasn’t ready to critically problem McLaren and Ferrari for pole place and completed P4 in Qualifyinghowever was demoted to P7 after the stewards handed him a grid drop for a yellow flag infringement.

While it was a stark change from the front-row begins he had come to take pleasure in, Antonelli risked a unique technique and gained positions as his rivals pitted. He could not match the tempo of McLaren and ultimately had to full a second cease after his crew determined his tires would not final till the top.

He then got here again into podium competition when different groups risked a cease beneath Virtual Safety Car situations, permitting him to enhance to P3 and cling on forward of Lewis Hamiltonwhose problem was neutralized by a time penalty for rushing in the pit lane.

“It was a tough race,” Antonelli defined. “It was actually onerous to overtake, so we had to do one thing with technique. Initially we tried to go for the one-stop, however then [the team] advised me that the tire was an excessive amount of on the restrict, so we stopped.

“Then we had a Virtual Safety Car and the two Ferraris boxed. I knew it would have been very hard because I was on hards, they were on softs. Luckily we managed to keep them behind.”

With a number of weeks off earlier than the second a part of the season, Mercedes could also be involved by the way in which they fell behind their rivals on the Hungaroring, particularly as George Russell might solely handle P7 following a setback attributable to anti-stall on the opening lap – though that was an honest restoration effort.

However, Antonelli was left glad with the outcome as he outscored each Russell and Hamilton, opening up his benefit in the standings to 50 factors over the lead Ferrari, with Russell an additional 9 factors adrift.

“No, not really,” stated Antonelli, when requested whether or not he might’ve imagined being in such a powerful place. “Of course I’m very pleased – it is one of the best ways to go into the summer season break.

“I think today was big damage limitation and we’ve got to keep pushing because the second half is going to be hard. We’ll try our best.”