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Kimi Antonelli has broken record after record on his way to leading the F1 standings after eight rounds of racing, but Martin Brundle strongly believes that his racecraft still needs further refinement.
During the height of Kimi Antonelli’s five-round winning streak during the opening stage of the current campaign, he looked completely untouchable. Of course, the young Italian had some luck on his side in certain instances, but in the end, he got the job done.
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However, he has also showcased his youthfulness on some occasions; most recently at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, where Antonelli was seen going off the track three times over the course of the opening two laps.
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The 19-year-old was under enormous pressure from his rivals at the time as the grid grappled for track position at the start of the race, and he ended up paying the price after he took the chequered flag in P3 – behind George Russell and Max Verstappen, respectively.
Antonelli went on to showcase a superior level of pace during his final stint of the 71-lap Grand Prix, but would end up ruing his early mistakes as he missed out on a better finish at the chequered flag by mere seconds.
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During Sky Sports F1’s coverage of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, legendary pundit Martin Brundle had some words of advice for the Silver Arrows regarding Antonelli’s “wild” side that often comes out when his back is against the wall.
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“Kimi’s a bit wild, and one of those mistakes is going to hurt him at some point,” Brundle told his co-presenters (12:16 03/07), before scrutinising Antonelli’s Austria antics: “He’s had a few near misses where he locks up and flies off the road.”
Still, Brundle has no doubts that the raw talent of the 19-year-old puts him in a higher category of racing driver than Russell, adding, “He was off the road twice in the first lap in Austria, but in the second half of each stint, he’s faster than George.
“He’s keeping his tyres better, he’s more confident when the tyres are a little bit fed up with life and not giving as much grip as they should.
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“George is having to pull everything out of his experience and knowledge to win the races and to grab his four pole positions so far this season. But fundamentally, Antonelli is quicker than Russell at the moment.”
For Saturday’s Sprint race, Antonelli will line up alongside pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton after missing out on the top spot in Friday’s shootout by just 0.011s. Russell, on the other hand, will start from P5 after setting a time some three tenths off the benchmark.
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