Kimi Antonelli addresses F1 'confidence' after latest Mercedes setback

Kimi Antonelli has asserted he still has high confidence despite his early end to running during FP2 at the Italian Grand Prix on Friday.

Antonelli ended the opening practice session of the weekend in fifth place as he looked to put himself on an upward trajectory amid a difficult European leg of the season.

However, just 10 minutes into the second practice segment at Monza, Antonelli spun into the gravel at the second Lesmo corner.

It brought his day to a premature end and ensured he missed out on valuable track time ahead of qualifying and the grand prix.

“I pushed a bit too hard for the grip [that was there] in the moment,” Antonelli said.

“It's a shame, the day was looking good. I had a good FP1 and the start of FP2 was looking strong.

“My confidence is still high, just tomorrow I will have to do a bit of a different programme. But we'll try to be ready for anything.”

Antonelli did not place any target for Saturday on the table but simply asserted he is focused on returning the highest possible qualifying result.

“I felt pretty confident, we were moving in the right direction with the set-up,” he said.

“It's a shame to miss laps but on my side I'll try to get ready and deliver the best job [on Saturday].

“Qualifying is going to be pretty tight, it looks pretty close out there. Four-tenths, there were 10 cars. So it's going to be pretty tight.

“But the pace felt good, so we'll just try to deliver the best pace as possible and try to start as far forward as possible.”