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F1 pundit Anthony Davidson has shared his theory on how Kimi Antonelli was able to produce ‘magic’ on his way to winning the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old wrote his name in the history books at the beginning of June as he became the youngest F1 driver in history to stand on the top step of the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Your championship standings after the Barcelona GP. How worried should Kimi Antonelli be about Lewis Hamilton?
Despite Ferrari heading into the race weekend as the overwhelming favourites, Antonelli was utterly dominant by the time the most meaningful sessions rolled around.
After claiming pole position on Saturday afternoon, he failed to put a foot wrong as he also became the youngest driver ever to secure a Grand Chelem in the sport.
Anthony Davidson thinks Kimi Antonelli was superior in Monaco because he is ‘fresh out of karting’
In an appearance on a recent episode of Mercedes’ official F1 podcast, Anthony Davidson shared his thoughts on Antonelli’s rout in the Principality as they discussed the positive aspects of the Silver Arrows’ most recent race weekends.
How ‘lucky’ has Kimi Antonelli been so far this season?
His theory behind Antonelli’s dominance relates to his age, and more specifically, how soon he made the jump from racing go-karts to the very pinnacle of single-seater motorsports. Less than five years ago, he was still dominating the worldwide karting circuit.
“Kimi is… he’s basically fresh out of karting, and this tight, twisty racetrack, I just thought, on paper, it should be a circuit that suits Kimi really well,” Davidson began.
“There’s only so far you can take a car to give to a driver, but when the competition is as close as it is, the driver delivers, especially on a track like that in Monaco.
“They deliver that extra one or two per cent, maybe even five per cent, and that’s what I saw Kimi able to do there. He produced that bit of magic to get the car right at the front, and he capitalised on the car that he had. “
Valentino Rossi recently detailed how he first met Antonelli after demanding to meet the holder of a karting record at an Italian race track. The MotoGP legend was extremely impressed by Antonelli’s racecraft and was unable to break the record himself.
Anthony Davidson expects a ‘stronger’ George Russell to emerge as the current F1 season ensues
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Davidson predicts a sweet resurgence for George Russell in the remainder of the current campaign. He currently sits 50 points behind Antonelli in the F1 standings – equal to two full Grand Prix victories.
“For George, he will have tracks where he’s stronger inevitably this season, and then put the pressure back on Kimi,” Davidson said.
“You do start to look at what your teammates are doing, and you take a few setup ideas, not just in terms of mechanical configuration, but also the tools that they have.
“You know, the differential, the brake bias migration, all things like that. There’s definitely going to be some kind of cross-pollination between the two drivers to try to get the upper hand.”
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