Always 6th
First weekend in his career on a city circuit like that of Jeddah and the only driver on the team Press in Saudi Arabia following Bearman's departure to Ferrari to replace Sainz. Not an easy weekend for Andrea Kimi Antonelliwho nevertheless finished both races of the second round of this season in the points 6th place.
Mistakes and bad luck
A result that is equivalent to best placement for the driver from Bologna in this series after the tenth position obtained in Bahrain, on a track particularly hostile to Prema. After one bad start in the Sprint, the 17-year-old managed to recover to 7th place, which then became sixth following Verschoor's disqualification. In the Feature, however, the Mercedes Junior Team driver even fought for the podium with Fittipaldi, but some small errors (added to the bad luck for the entry of the Safety Car at a non-ideal moment) took him away from any chance of a podium.
The comment on the Feature
However, an overall performance that was not at all negative for the #4 of the Italian team, who commented on his Feature Race as follows: “The start of the race was much better than yesterday – has explained – subsequently, I had understeer problems. This cost us in terms of lap times. I lost some positions also because some of my rivals did the mandatory tire change while the race was in rneutralization regime. This sixth place is not the result we were aiming for, but I think we have taken a good step forward compared to Bahrain.”
Another debut on the horizon
From 22nd to 24th March another challenge will arise for Antonelli: on those dates, Formula 2 will return to the track for the third round of the season on the circuit of Melbourne, Australia. Another circuit on which the young Italian talent he never competed. Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether Antonelli will have Bearman as a teammate again or whether the latter will be busy with Ferrari, even if the latest indications on Sainz's state of health give rise to hope for the Spaniard's return.
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