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Antonelli reveals reasons why he was unable to fight for Zandvoort sprint pole Kimi Antonelli will start Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix Sprint from fifth on the grid after a difficult Sprint Qualifying session at Zandvoort, with early floor damage compromising the Mercedes driver’s performance. The championship leader had shown strong pace in the sole practice session, topping the timesheets despite a spin, and appeared capable of challenging for the front row. However, his Sprint Qualifying session quickly became more complicated. On his first push lap in SQ1, Antonelli carried too much speed into the final corner and ran through the gravel. The incident damaged his Mercedes’ floor, leaving two holes and costing the car downforce for the remainder of the session. “On my first lap in SQ1, I carried a little bit too much speed into the final corner and picked up some damage,” Antonelli explained. “That cost us some performance and, even though the team did what they could to repair it, I was struggling quite a lot in the low-speed corners.” Despite the setback, Antonelli managed to progress through SQ1 and ultimately secured fifth place with a best time of 1:11.794. However, the damage meant he was unable to extract the full potential from his Mercedes, particularly in Zandvoort’s slower corners. His Mercedes team-mate George Russell, meanwhile, delivered a clean and precise performance to claim pole position for the Sprint. Russell was only fractionally behind Antonelli in practice but found the extra pace when it mattered, putting together a near-perfect final flying lap in SQ3. Antonelli admitted that recovering confidence after his early mistake was another challenge. “Once you've had a moment like that, it can be difficult to rebuild the confidence and put everything together,” he said. “Even so, the gaps were very small, so there are still positives to take from the session.” With overtaking expected to be difficult around the tight and twisty Zandvoort circuit, Antonelli faces a challenging Sprint from fifth on the grid. The Italian nevertheless sees the 18-lap race as an important opportunity to recover positions while gathering valuable information ahead of the main qualifying session later on Saturday. “We'll focus now on doing the best race we can in the Sprint,” Antonelli said. “It's going to be difficult because the field is so close at the front and overtaking won't be easy, but we'll look to maximise every opportunity and make up as much ground as possible.” The Sprint will also give Mercedes an opportunity to better understand the car’s performance and assess the impact of the floor damage before qualifying for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. “Most importantly, we'll use it to gather information and put ourselves in the strongest position for Qualifying later in the day,” Antonelli added. With Russell starting from pole and Antonelli fifth, Mercedes remains firmly in contention at the front of the field. For Antonelli, however, the priority will be to minimise the damage from a difficult Sprint Qualifying and regain the confidence and pace he showed during practice.