Antonelli starts with a podium
Kimi’s first big chance to shine in Formula 1 is coming now Antonelli. The Bolognese is well aware that he has the best car of the lot – the Australian GP confirmed this – and started the year with a solid second place behind teammate George Russell.
The 19-year-old made up for a bad start, which was also made complex by a technical problem and which forced him to chase from seventh position. The pace of the W17 and safe driving, however, allowed him to move up to P4 before grabbing the podium area with the pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car, a choice that Ferrari preferred not to follow. In the second part of the race Antonelli also became close to Russell (from 7 to 3 seconds), demonstrating that he can keep up with his teammate: the details need to be sorted out to definitively flourish (and having a clean race weekend is certainly useful) but the conditions for a great 2026 are there.
Antonelli’s words
“I have to thank the team, because today’s result was possible above all thanks to them and thanks to the work they did yesterday after FP3“, commented a Sky Sports F1. “I’m happy, it was a good start to the season. The car is there, it’s nice to drive and it’s a complete car at the moment, but we need to continue working because the Ferrari was fast in the first stint. Furthermore, the situation can change very quickly, so we must try to maximize the result every time. It was certainly a weekend of ups and downs, the positive thing is that I was able to react to every situation. The pace is good, I feel good in the car, we can do good things in the future“.
“I had a problem at the startI had no power and I was very worried, because the car didn’t respond when I stepped on the accelerator“he added.”When I stopped in the box and put it into engine mode, I saw ‘zero’ on the battery and got a little scared. The departure, unfortunately, was what it was. We saw firsthand what the start is like, and it’s definitely a point we need to work on“.
