‘A good way to come back to Earth’ – Antonelli rues ‘very stupid’ mistake during Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying

Kimi Antonelli crashed out of Qualifying at the Baku City Circuit, while team mate George Russell stormed to pole position.

Sep 25, 2026 2:00pm UTC

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - SEPTEMBER 25: Sixteenth placed qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and

Kimi Antonelli was left to rue a “very unnecessary” and “very stupid” incident that ended his Qualifying session early in Azerbaijan, and leaves him towards the back of the grid for Saturday’s Grand Prix.

Antonelli had just started a Q1 lap at the Baku City Circuit when he thumped the inside concrete wall at Turn 1, causing damage to the front-left corner of his Mercedes and forcing him to stop out on track – as instructed by Race Engineer Peter Bonnington.

While Antonelli officially progressed to Q2 with the lap time he had posted in the opening minutes of the session, the Italian had to watch the rest of Qualifying from the sidelines and ultimately classified down in 16th position.

Speaking after the session, Antonelli sighed: “A very unnecessary mistake. Obviously I misjudged with the grip being so different compared to the first lap. I hit the wall, a very unnecessary mistake so early on.

How Antonelli reacted to his Q1 incident


Antonelli	“I hit the wall!”
Bonnington	“I think we just better park up, mate. We’re not going to be able to fix that.”
Antonelli	“Are you sure?”
Bonnington	“Affirm. Stop in a safe place.”
Antonelli	“Let me try [to get back to the pits], mate. Let me try.”
Bonnington	“We can’t fix this, mate.”
Antonelli	“Why can’t we fix it?”
Bonnington	“It looks like we’ve done something to the track rod or upright, so that’s a fairly big job.”
Antonelli	“****. I’m sorry guys. My God.”
Bonnington	“No sweat, Kimi.”

“It’s a good way to come back to Earth and to remind myself that I need to be on top of it every time, because otherwise I do these mistakes, and a very stupid one.”

Antonelli leads fellow Mercedes driver George Russell by 81 points ahead of the 51-lap race, but his team mate – who charged to pole position by almost a second over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – now has a golden opportunity to make up some ground.

Asked about his chances of a recovery, and emulating his P19-P1 charge on home soil at Monza a couple of rounds ago, Antonelli said: “I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we can recover many places.

“The car is quick, so we’re ready to do our best. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be a good race.”

Next Up