Kimi Antonelli’s sprint qualifying run at Zandvoort ended when a turn‑13 oversteer pushed the Formula 1 car into gravel, felting an estimated 25‑point loss in downforce that toppled the Italian from a blistering pace into eighth on the grid.
Downforce damage at Zandvoort
During SQ1, the Mercedes driver corrected a late‑corner oversteer that sliced into the floor, leaving visible “holes” that the team later patched. The resulting loss equated to about 25 downforce units, Mercedes’ technical chief Roger—some sources citing Toto Wolff—estimated the damage would shave roughly a half‑second from the lap time. Antonelli remarked that, despite the hits, “I was struggling a lot in the low speed, but yeah, that’s what it is.”
Although the car was repaired between sessions, the damage remained, and the driver’s confidence had to be rebuilt. “It was not easy to get it back on track,” he added, “but we’ll try to do the best we can, even with the damage.”
Qualifying fallout
Antonelli finished eighth in the first sprint block, 0.7 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc’s benchmark, and later recovered to fifth in SQ3, still 0.2 seconds off teammate George Russell. Sprint race line‑ups reflected the losses; Antonelli would start third, behind Russell, while the top four were separated by less than a tenth of a second at the conclusion of the duel between the Mercedes and Ferrari entries.
Looking ahead to Saturday
The Dutch driver stressed that the complex, technical nature of Zandvoort would make overtaking difficult, but the reopening of parc ferme promises a fresh floor for the full 24‑lap race. “We’ll try to do the best race we can, and from qualifying we’re going to tidy the car up and go again, better luck tomorrow,” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1.
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