Antonelli recovers from 16th to fifth in Baku after 'driving like my grandmother'

Kimi Antonelli salvaged fifth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku after starting 16th, the 20-year-old Mercedes driver admitting he spent much of the race in self-described ‘grandmother mode’ following a difficult weekend that included a hydraulic leak in practice and a qualifying crash.

The result was a far cry from Antonelli’s sensational comeback win at Monza three weekends earlier, but on a tricky, wind-swept street circuit laced with pitfalls, the Italian rookie chose damage limitation over heroics. “I was driving a bit like my grandmother today, just damage save mode,” Antonelli said. “I just didn’t take a risk. Before making a move, I was making sure that I could go for it.”

Antonelli had already benefitted from Lando Norris running wide at Turn 1 before a safety car on lap 31 of 51 — triggered by Alex Albon — brought the field together and gave his recovery drive fresh momentum. He was sitting eighth at that point, having methodically picked off midfield runners on the 6km circuit.

The restart, however, brought fresh trouble. Franco Colapinto collected both Norris and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in a multi-car incident, and while Antonelli threaded through the carnage, Haas driver Oliver Bearman clipped him in the process. “After the restart, I had big floor damage,” Antonelli explained. “My whole left side was gone with the contact. So after that, the car was very sketchy to drive.”

Despite the damage, Antonelli pushed on to challenge Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and ultimately crossed the line fifth. “I still tried to get to fourth, but all in all, it’s one of those days where you have to be happy with fifth,” he said. “I saw the Alpine locking up and I pulled back immediately. I was getting ready to do the switchback, but then obviously I didn’t see Ollie coming so quickly on the inside. I was lucky to get away with it, but not so lucky to come away with such a big amount of damage.”

With team-mate George Russell winning the race, Antonelli’s fifth-place finish at least kept the points gap between them from widening further. A disrupted weekend — one that stripped him of pace and rhythm in practice — was ultimately the root cause of the cautious race strategy, and Antonelli left Baku disappointed with his own performance even as he acknowledged the result was the best available outcome given the circumstances.