Kimi Antonelli achieves the best result of his career after a "very stressful" battle against Max Verstappen

Kimi Antonelli had visited Ayrton Senna's grave before the Brazilian weekend… had he received the blessing of the three-time world champion? In any case, the protégé of Mercedes drew renewed energy from the Brazilian legend to deliver the finest performance of his Grand Prix career. Qualifying second, Antonelli perfectly converted his grid position to climb onto his second podium of the season after the Canadian GP, ​​alongside Lando Norris and in front Max Verstappen.

However, it could all have ended much sooner: sandwiched during the restart after Gabriel Bortoleto's accident, he found himself in contact with Charles Leclercforced to abandon the attempt after an ambitious maneuver.Oscar piastri on the inside line. “I was lucky to escape with the rebound after the contact with Oscar Piastri,” he admits. We're still going to analyze the car because it wasn't handling quite the same afterwards. It was a great race.

In the closing laps, Antonelli engaged in an intense battle with Max Verstappen, who had made a spectacular recovery from the pit lane (19th). He analyzed this battle in an interview with the media. F1 : " I honestly don't know where Max Verstappen came from. joked the Bolognese man, incredulous. The last ten laps were very stressful with Max coming back on fresher tires! Fortunately, I managed to maintain a good pace in the fresh air and hold onto second place. »

At Interlagos, the student surpasses the master

He brilliantly held his own against the Dutchman, thus emerging victorious from this battle for second place. I found my rhythm; when he got closer, I made sure to increase the pace by attacking a little more. he explains With these cars, it's difficult to keep up because of the turbulence, so I tried to use that to my advantage and in the end, it paid off! »

Antonelli also made his mentor proud Toto wolff, blown away by his performance. I am so proud, especially to have seen my two drivers defend like that at the end of the race, and both stay ahead of a faster car under immense pressure. congratulates the Austrian. Fantastic, when you have the world champion behind you, putting on the pressure on soft tires, he manages to hold on. Well done! »

Having already finished second in the Sprint race the previous day, Kimi Antonelli capped off a fantastic weekend in style. Mercedes thus earned 25 valuable points (with George Russell 4th) in the Constructors' Championship, despite the double retirement of Ferrari. " We have a good advantage in the championship, but we can clearly see how quickly things can change.Toto Wolff, however, adds a note of caution. Ferrari had an off day, and if that happens to us in the last three Grands Prix, things could go the other way. We need to stay grounded and keep scoring good points. »

The last three rounds of the season will therefore be decisive both for the Constructors' Championship and for Kimi Antonelli, who is confidently continuing his transformation into a true champion in the making.

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