Kimi Antonelli eyes aggressive undercut attack in F1 Malaysia

Kimi Antonelli will start third on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid thanks to Isack Hadjar's five-place grid penalty, but after Mercedes introduced a seven-piece upgrade package at Sepang, the driver's expectations were much higher before he started driving. He now places his hopes on using the powerful undercut this circuit may have to offer.

Antonelli looked like the man to beat after what looked to be a strong FP3 session. But qualifying unravelled for both him and his team-mate after a straightline deficit and tyre troubles allowed Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Hadjar to slip up the time sheet. 

Antonelli ended his Saturday half a second off Verstappen, while George Russell finished eighth (seventh after Hadjar's penalty). 

"It's much better than what I expected," he admitted. "Especially with only one set of new tyres, not easy, so obviously I did a mistake with the track limits, I understeered off the track.

"But I think with a clean qualifying - probably P2, maybe P3 on the road, but not P1. Max was a bit too quick for us today."

Mercedes can't yet trust the new package

There is uncertainty behind Mercedes' new upgrades - something that team chief Toto Wolff has also discussed. And as Sepang offers a highly abrasive track surface with intense heat, it has been difficult for the Silver Arrows drivers to draw a solid comparison to what they already know.

"Definitely there's a lot of learning that we need to make about this package," Antonelli continued. "I think the track doesn't help as well because the tarmac is so rough and it's so hot that the tyres are out of the [operating] windows after two corners.

"So you're just sliding around and it's making our life difficult to understand this package. We have a big opportunity tomorrow to score good points, to hopefully even fight for the win and I'll do my best."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

With the grid lineup mixed for tomorrow's race, Antonelli is hoping to lean on strategy to make up for where his car may lack in race trim.  

"I think strategy is going to be really important. It's going to be a race where we will attack because undercut is incredibly powerful, so I think whenever there's an opportunity, we should go for maybe an undercut and try to maximise our opportunity.

"Tomorrow might be two stops, three stops, we don't know, but the only thing we know is that it's going to be roasting hot out there."

What is an undercut?

An undercut is the term used for when a chasing driver pits for new tyres, hoping that by the time the leading car pits, the performance gains from running fresh rubber allow them to overtake.

There will be a huge difference in performance between new and old tyres thanks to the incredibly abrasive track surface at Sepang. Traffic will be a serious consideration for teams, as well as making sure they don't pit too early and risk severe drop-off later in the race.