Kimi Antonelli explains struggles in China after sustaining floor damage as he highlights main area to improve

Mercedes youngster Kimi Antonelli has explained that damage picked up on the first lap of the Chinese Grand Prix hindered his pace as he went on to secure a valuable sixth place.

Originally coming home eighth in China, the Italian youngster was promoted to sixth following Ferrari’s double disqualification after another steady performance that came despite suffering floor damage right at the start of the race – something he was unaware of until told by the team afterwards.

“I struggled this race, [it] was quite difficult to hold on," he explained after the race. "Already from Lap 1 I felt that something was weird with the car, and then eventually after the race the team told me about the damage.

“It looks like I hit some debris and that affected the performance quite heavily. I struggled with the rear in particular after that and that was something I wasn’t expecting. It definitely hindered my pace, but it was good learning to have to deal with that.”

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 22: Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy driving the (12) Mercedes AMG Petronas — Antonelli is keen to eliminate the small mistakes that are costing him in qualifying

At a race where tyre degradation had been a factor all weekend, especially for cars running in dirty air, it is credit to the teenager that he was able to drive around the problem and come home in the top 10 – albeit in a car that his team mate George Russell is showing has podium potential.

While his performance in China wasn’t as headline grabbing as his drive from P16 to fourth in Melbourne, on a day where the rookies struggled in the mixed conditions, Antonelli still impressed and earned the Driver of the day accolade.

But the youngster was keen to point out the area he knows he needs to improve before F1 moves to Japan for the next race weekend.

“Overall, I’m happy with how I, and the team as a whole, have started the year," he added. "I think one of the main points of learning for me has been Qualifying.

“If I can put it all together on a Saturday then we will be starting further forward, less likely to get involved in incidents, and can maximise the pace of the car.”

The Italian is currently fifth in the Driver Standings' with 22 points to his name, 12 points behind Chinese Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri in fourth.