Kimi Antonelli has admitted that Max Verstappen's early pit stop at the United States Grand Prix worried him. The Mercedes driver also said the one-stop strategy that won him the race was decided during the race and was not the plan from the start.
Verstappen criticised the call heavily after the race, but the winner's version suggests the early stop looked like a real threat when Red Bull made it. In the end, Antonelli's victory was not threatened by the Dutchman, who is now a single point away from winning this year's title.
Antonelli was 'a bit concerned' when Mercedes stayed out
Red Bull pitted Verstappen on Lap 13 and fitted a second set of soft tyres, committing him to a two-stop race. Mercedes kept Antonelli out on mediums, and he said he was "a bit concerned in the beginning" by that choice.
"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."
The Italian added that he "just didn't know how much management was required, but it was good, and the car felt very good today."
Why the two strategies split
The tyres each team had left also played a part. Verstappen had saved two sets of softs from qualifying, which seemed to give him a strategic advantage before the start, while Mercedes had no new softs left.
Photo: Race Pictures
"We didn't have much choice, to be fair. We didn't have any new softs, so the new medium was the only choice we really had, or the hard," Antonelli added.
From the outside, then, Red Bull's early stop looked like a sensible way to use a tyre advantage, and the leader took it seriously. The trouble came later. Verstappen ran into a more problematic second stint on softs, and he was already stuck on a two-stop by then. Red Bull put the drop in pace down to hidden damage.
Antonelli only lost the lead after his single stop, which dropped him behind Verstappen and Leclerc. He went back in front when Verstappen made his second stop, and Leclerc did not put up much of a fight once Antonelli caught him.
Title within reach in Mexico
Antonelli now heads to Mexico with a strong chance of wrapping up the championship, especially after teammate George Russell was only finished in eighth place at COTA. Antonelli is just two points shy of claiming his first F1 title in Mexico City.