Kimi Antonelli leads Spa practice after Mercedes turnaround but warns "a lot of work to do"

The Formula 1 championship leader finished sixth in FP1 after struggling with an edgy and difficult Mercedes. He then responded by setting the fastest time in FP2.

Antonelli enters the weekend with a 25-point advantage in the Drivers’ Championship. However, the Italian insisted Mercedes had not solved every problem: “We made big changes with the car and it was a lot better, so that’s a good direction. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do as a team and as well with my driving. It was a much better session and now looking forward to tomorrow.”

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin revealed the team had initially selected a setup offering insufficient downforce. That decision left Antonelli and teammate George Russell struggling for confidence during the opening one-hour session.

Shovlin explained: “We were a bit too low on downforce in the first session, and both of them found it a bit of a handful.” After which Mercedes responded with significant changes ahead of FP2. Antonelli immediately appeared more comfortable and climbed to the top of the timesheets.

The turnaround underlined Mercedes’ ability to react quickly, but the contrasting fortunes of its two championship contenders also left questions ahead of qualifying. Russell finished P8 in both sessions. More concerningly, he ended FP2 around 1.2 seconds behind Antonelli.

Russell said: "We haven't had the smoothest Friday here in Spa. We overestimated the grip levels in FP1 and that meant our starting set-up wasn't in the right place. We struggled with a difficult car balance and, whilst we were able to complete some learning, it wasn't the ideal way to start our weekend.

"We therefore worked hard ahead of FP2 and made some changes which improved things. There is still more lap time we can find, particularly on the single lap, and we will look to do that overnight. Our long run was more competitive and that gives us encouragement heading into Saturday and Sunday," added Russell.

However, Shovlin dismissed the margin as an accurate reflection of the gap between the two Mercedes drivers: “I don’t think that gap is representative of what George is capable of. It wasn’t a great lap. There’s a couple of little issues that we need to pick into, but he had only had one go at it.

“You can see a few places where he’s under-hit it and I think, with such a tricky first session, it didn’t leave them with great preparation for the second session. There’s plenty we can see that will be relatively easy for him to solve on the data. I’m fairly sure he will be far closer tomorrow, if not a threat," added Shovlin.

Russell’s recovery will be important for Mercedes as the two teammates continue their fight at the top of the championship. In their battle for the title, Antonelli holds the advantage after an impressive opening half of the season, but Russell remains his closest title rival and a potential qualifying threat.

Mercedes will now analyse whether Antonelli’s improved balance can be maintained across Spa’s long straights and high-speed corners. They appear to be heading in a more promising direction. But Kimi's warning, however, was clear: the work is far from finished.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Spa-Francorchamps)