George Russell managed 18 factors whereas Kimi Antonelli drew a clean in all three rounds of the Imola, Monaco and Barcelona triple-header, as Mercedes misplaced floor within the championship
A prime Mercedes chief has admitted the workforce is feeling “fairly stung” by a triple header of Method 1 races which introduced little pleasure. The primary three European races of the 2025 season had been troublesome for the Silver Arrows who managed to attain simply 18 factors over three Sundays.
All of them had been amassed by George Russell, who noticed his remarkably constant begin to the marketing campaign slip. He certified effectively at Imola however struggled for tempo throughout the race and slipped right down to seventh, his worst results of the marketing campaign as much as that time.
Issues bought worse in Monaco as he suffered an engine problem in qualifying and, with overtaking unimaginable on the tight Monte Carlo streets, could not make it into the highest 10. He did not less than return to the highest 5 in Barcelona, ending the Spanish Grand Prix fourth regardless of being rammed by Max Verstappen.
Whereas 18 factors would have been a disappointing return to the Brit, it is a quantity Kimi Antonelli would have beloved to deliver dwelling. As an alternative, he failed to attain a single level over the course of a hellish triple header for the F1 rookie.
Signal as much as our free weekly F1 publication, Pit Lane Chronicle, by coming into your electronic mail deal with beneath so that each re-creation lands straight in your inbox!
He too certified too low to have an opportunity of constructing the factors in Monaco, and his 18th-placed end there was sandwiched by two DNFs with Mercedes struggling reliability points on that automobile. A throttle problem pressured him to drag over at Imola, whereas his engine gave up in Spain due to an oil stress downside.
Reflecting on how the triple header went for the workforce, technical director James Allison mentioned he and his colleagues had “combined” emotions. He mentioned: “I suppose from Barcelona, there have been facets of the way in which we approached the weekend, of the efficiency of the automobile in extremely popular observe circumstances that give us some optimism for the longer term.
READ MORE: Toto Wolff sparks contemporary row after Max Verstappen feedback following Spanish GPREAD MORE: F1 champion admits his well being is failing in worrying replace throughout uncommon interview
“However we’re all fairly stung by the DNFs and having been by means of a triple header the place we did not rating at something like the speed we did within the opening races of the 12 months. So, hopefully, good trying ahead, however I would not need to do these three races once more like that.”
Antonelli, 18, is in his first season on the F1 grid and workforce principal Toto Wolff has made it clear that it will likely be little greater than a 12 months of studying for a expertise who Mercedes hope can go on to be a future celebrity. However regardless of the decrease expectations in his maiden marketing campaign, Allison admitted {the teenager} has been affected by his troublesome run.
Sky Sports activities launches discounted Method 1 bundle
£43
£35
Sky
Get Sky Sports activities right here
Method 1 followers can watch each follow, qualifying and race stay with Sky’s new Important TV and Sky Sports activities bundle in a brand new deal that saves £192.
In addition to Sky Sports activities entry, this contains greater than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
He mentioned: “Kimi is younger and stuffed with all of the optimism of youth, however I completely know that our failures on this interval have taken a number of chunks out of Kimi alongside the way in which. Two DNFs, one attributable to a chassis downside, one attributable to a PU downside in simply three races – that is a reasonably robust tablet to swallow.
“Leaving that apart, and Kimi trying in it himself, he’ll know that he is bought extra to search out. However in amongst that, there’s been a number of very constructive work with him and sensible expertise for him operating on a really dynamic observe prefer it was in Barcelona, with the observe temperatures pushing up in the direction of 50 levels and managing delicate tyres in these circumstances. That’s simply placing expertise into him at a really quick price, and he was dealing with it fairly effectively.”
