Antonelli's heart-wrenching review of Imola GP: 'The worst weekend in F1'

19:25, 18 May

byNorberto Mujica

Andrea Kimi Antonelli's first home race weekend went from bad to worse, as the Mercedes rookie admits the Imola race was his lowest point of the season in terms of performance.

The Italian couldn't even see the chequeared flag due to his reliability related untimely retirement from the race, which his teammate George Russell also reported, albeit of a different nature.

"It was a shame to finish like this. We were lucky with the VSC, but obviously it was also the risk of trying the alternative strategy. And then on the medium, already after 2-3 laps, I started to have the issue with the throttle," Antonelli said to media including GPblog after the race.

The worst weekend in F1 for Antonelli

The Italian started to lose power on and off on the straights, a tough situation to manage before the power output gave out completely. "It's ok to end up like this, but I need to review better what happened this whole weekend in order to be back stronger in Monaco," said Antonelli already turning the page to the next Grand Prix of the season.

The Italian, however, does highlight his defense against Lewis Hamilton, before concluding that his first home race weekend simply did not go his way.

"I think overall, it was good the defense on Lewis. But then on the medium, as I said, I had the issue pretty much straight away. So a bit hard to say with the pace."

"I think the weekend was not on my side. Probably was the worst in terms of performance."