Kimi Antonelli: I could have taken a higher position.

      Mercedes debutant Kimi Antonelli, in his first Formula 1 qualifying in Australia, did not make it to the second part – the 18-year-old Italian driver was 0.09 seconds short. From the television picture, it was clear that Kimi's car was clinging to the asphalt so hard that sparks did not stop pouring from under the bottom.

      After qualifying, Antonelli said that he had damaged his car on the curb, and if it hadn't been for that, he would have started from a much higher position.

      Kimi Antonelli: "I followed the same trajectory in qualifying as I did in the third practice session. But there was a lot of gravel on the curb [at turn 6], and after driving over it, the car was severely damaged.

      I was wasting a lot of time on the straights. First of all, due to the fact that the bottom of the car scraped on the asphalt. Among other things, it has lost some of its aerodynamic load, since it is not designed for friction on asphalt.

      The car has speed, so this result is even more disappointing. I definitely could have taken a much higher position. Rain is possible on Sunday, so a lot can happen. I'll try to win it back."