Kimi Antonelli Calls Limited Baku Practice a Good Recovery After Hydraulic Issue and Fire Damaged Engine

• Kimi Antonelli lost significant track time in Thursday practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a hydraulic issue in FP1 and a fire damaged power unit that delayed his FP2 running.
• Antonelli overcame the setbacks to post fifth fastest in FP1 and second quickest in FP2, calling his day “a good recovery.”
• Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says the gap at the top does not reflect the true competitive order heading into qualifying.

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A Hydraulic Issue and a Damaged Engine Could Not Stop Antonelli’s Day

Kimi Antonelli believes his performance in practice ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix “was a good recovery,” after the Mercedes driver suffered a mechanical issue which cut into much of his running at the Baku City Circuit.

The Italian enters the weekend with an 81 point lead in the drivers’ standings after his victory last time out in Madrid, but found himself on the back foot on Thursday in Baku.

Lost Laps in Both Sessions

Antonelli suffered a hydraulic issue aboard his Mercedes approaching the halfway point of first practice, an issue that ended his participation in the one hour session early.

He also missed the first half of second practice as a new power unit was fitted following fire damage. Even with the two issues eating into his track time, Antonelli was still fifth fastest in the opening session and second quickest once second practice got underway.

“We tried to do the max with what we had,” said Antonelli. “Obviously lost quite a few laps in FP1 and then missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit.”

“Overall I feel like it was a good recovery. I feel quite good in the car, obviously a few things to work on but looking forward to tomorrow.”

Russell Sets the Pace on Thursday

Mercedes team mate George Russell topped both sessions on Thursday, finishing more than half a second clear of Antonelli in second practice as the team looked strong on the streets of Baku. Russell trails Antonelli by 81 points in the championship and has been chasing a way back into contention in the races that followed the summer break.

Mercedes Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord believes the margin between Mercedes and its rivals will narrow once qualifying and Saturday’s Grand Prix take place, with several teams still working through fresh upgrade packages of their own.

“We’ve seen competitors bring pretty big update packages if you look at McLaren, Red Bull as well,” Lord said. “They’ll be absolutely in the mix, I don’t think the gaps at the top after FP2 were representative of the true gaps in performance.”

Mercedes Braced for a Closer Fight

Lord expects the competitive order to sharpen once all the frontrunners are running comparable programmes on comparable tyres. “I think everything will be much closer once we’re all running the same number of laps on the tyres,” he said.

“We hope to be in the mix, we should be in the mix on a low drag circuit like this having performed really strongly at Monza but we’ll have our work cut out to get on pole.”

For Antonelli, Thursday’s disruption was another test of composure in a season that has already delivered eight wins and a commanding championship lead. Losing laps to mechanical trouble on a street circuit, where every missed lap counts for more given the difficulty of finding clear track, made his recovery to second in FP2 stand out as a small victory in itself heading into Friday’s qualifying push.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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