Antonelli plays the veteran: “Not an easy victory, Lando was attacked. The championship is long”

More and more leaders There’s no two without three. Italy is finally getting used to having its own superstar in Formula 1: Andrea Kimi Antonelli also won the Miami GP and now has a 20 point lead in the standings over teammate George Russell, who came fourth under the checkered flag more due to the demerits, errors and misfortunes of others than due to his own merits. On the track, the 19-year-old Mercedes talent drove like a veteran, not faltering after yet another imperfect start and not giving in to the pressure when, in the second half of the race, he found himself in first position but closely followed by Lando Norris behind him. But Antonelli also demonstrated his maturity off the track, on the microphone of Sky Sport F1 in the traditional post-race interview. Victory with special dedication “This was a complicated race – declared the #12 of Mercedes – at the start I didn’t have any confidence because all the starting tests hadn’t been good. We changed the target many times compared to the starting one, so I didn’t have confidence. In the end the start wasn’t even that bad, but I made an error of judgment with Charles: he braked a little earlier than I expected and so I went long to avoid it. Then I was lucky with how things went: there was battle and I made a mistake with the use of energy, in fact Lando passed me. The pace was good, let’s say we were going much faster than in the Sprint. But it wasn’t easy, I had to stay very focused in the race because I knew that any small mistake could have brought Lando closer. It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy to have brought it home.” “Challenge between me and Sinner to see who wins more? No, we need to stay focused. The championship is still long – commented Antonelli – and we need to stay focused and continue to raise the bar. George will certainly be very strong in Canada. Last year he was really strong, so we will need to stay focused and continue working. I will certainly enjoy the moment now, but after that I will focus on Canada because it will be important to come back even stronger after another two and a half weeks. I conclude by dedicating this victory to Alex Zanardi.” Only applause, Kimi.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-05-04 06:13:00