Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he was concerned to see rival Max Verstappen make an early pit stop in the United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen committed to a two-stop strategy early in the race, pitting on lap 14 for a second set of soft tyres which meant he would have to come in again. Mercedes delayed Antonelli’s first pit stop but the tactics paid off as he was able to reach the end of the race with a single tyre change.However Antonelli admitted he was “a bit concerned in the beginning” when he stayed out after Verstappen’s pit stop. “But we were able to extend and actually the pace came back with the medium, and we were able to extend without losing too much time.
“So then, as you know, after doing the first stint on the medium, we were like, ‘Oh, right, we’re going to go for one-stop.’ And the hard, to be fair, felt very robust, so I felt pretty confident to go all the way to the end.
“I just didn’t know how much management was required, but it was good, and the car felt very good today.”
Verstappen saved two sets of soft tyres from qualifying which appeared to give him a strategic advantage before the race began.
“We didn’t have much choice, to be fair,” said Antonelli. “We didn’t have any new softs, so the new medium was the only choice we really had, or the hard.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“But the medium was not amazing. I think today the best tyre was the hard, just because it was the most resilient tyre. It was quite surprising because in recent races the soft has always been probably the best tyre. So it was a good surprise, and luckily it worked for us.”
Antonelli scored Mercedes’ first win since it introduced a major upgrade for its W17 in Malaysia. He said there is still room for improvement with the car.
“In some places, I would say it’s still not [delivering] as much as we expected, but in other places it is delivering very well,” he said. “I think in the high- and medium-speed [corners] the car is very strong. The balance is good.
“We’re still struggling a little bit in low-speed with front locking. But overall, I feel like the package is finally starting to deliver, and we’re starting to see the results and the improvements from the package.”