Kimi Antonelli vowed to put his Brazilian Grand Prix anger aside to celebrate Mercedes clinching the Formula 1 constructors' title, while admitting the balance issues and spin that took him out of victory contention left him deeply disappointed.
The new world champion took the lead from polesitter Lando Norris at the start and built a healthy advantage in the opening laps. He held the lead through the first round of pitstops, although Norris' undercut had taken a considerable chunk of time out of his advantage. On lap 20, Antonelli lost the rear of the car, triggering a spin at the opening corner. He recovered, but Norris had already moved past for the lead, and Antonelli found himself under pressure from Isack Hadjar.
Before the spin, Antonelli had reported worries about a possible suspension issue and a car pulling to one side under acceleration. That balance problem also cost him positions to Hadjar and Max Verstappen, and no clear cause had emerged during the race.
Antonelli later explained that the instability only occurred in left-hand corners, particularly in high-speed sections. He said the rear felt very loose and unstable, and the spin left all four tyres flat-spotted. Once he fitted a second set of soft tyres, his pace returned and he was able to challenge Hadjar late on. Mercedes will need to examine the car's rear geometry to determine what went wrong.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing