Verstappen, the champion who praises Antonelli: “He’s a great talent, I expected it”

The two a year ago For the world championship leader, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the opportunity is approaching to forget the Barcelona Grand Prix, where the Mercedes driver had to retire a few laps from the end due to a technical problem with his car. The Bolognese will present himself on the Spielberg circuit in Austria, where last season he was the protagonist of a braking error that knocked out Max Verstappen shortly after the start. Once they got out of the car, the reaction of the four-time Dutch world champion was surprising: he spoke to Antonelli but without getting angry with the latter, who was in his first season in F1 at the time. A respect that has remained unchanged Now, a few days before the new edition of the Austrian GP, Verstappen had the opportunity to focus on the talent of the young Italian driver, praising the qualities of the #12: “In general, at that age, being able to do what he is doing and also finding that consistency is really impressive – he declared to the media, even more so after the five victories achieved by the 19-year-old out of seven GPs contested in this world championship – also what he did in Monaco, in that age, it’s quite difficult, especially in qualifying when the pressure to make laps like that is very high, and I think he’s doing these things, I knew. Antonelli and that’s it Verstappen was therefore very impressed by Antonelli’s talent, even if he didn’t want to make comparisons in any way between the Bolognese and other champions of the past: “For comparisons, he said it himself, it’s important not to look at others or try to be like someone else. Be yourself. He knows it and he just has to do everything in his own way. Because that’s how you grow, doing things in your own way, and it’s also very important to be your own star.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-01 17:00:00