Antonelli identifies key issue that led to triple header struggles

Kimi Antonelli has revealed that his recent struggles during the triple header of races, which saw him fail to score points, were primarily due to difficulties with Pirelli's new C6 tyre compound. The Italian admitted that his inability to find consistency with the 'super picky' C6 tyre, introduced from Imola onwards, significantly impacted his confidence. After a promising start to his rookie season for Mercedes, where he scored points in five of the first six races, Antonelli faced a tough run. He retired mechanically in Imola and Spain, and hit the barriers in Monaco qualifying, ultimately finishing P18. He confessed that he hadn't managed the busy Imola weekend in front of his home crowd optimally, compounding his performance issues. Antonelli explained that the C6 tyre's sensitivity made it incredibly challenging to get into the correct operating window from the out lap, leading to significant performance swings. He cited a stark example from Imola, where his FP3 pace dropped by over half a second in qualifying. This struggle took a toll on his confidence, making it harder to find rhythm in subsequent sessions. Despite the C6 tyre returning for Montreal, Antonelli is optimistic. He used the recent week off to conduct extensive simulator work and analysis at the factory, studying when and why he could extract performance from the C6 and what went wrong when he couldn't. He believes this preparation will give him a better understanding and approach for the unique characteristics of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.