Antonelli steps up his level in dramatic fashion
Kimi Antonelli's impressive victory in the Miami Grand Prix, his third win in a row, was "something special", says 1996 world champion Damon Hill. "We witnessed this young boy showing us what enormous potential he clearly has, and I'm almost stunned with how he has coped this season," Hill told BBC Radio 5 Live. On top of that, Hill added, 19-year-old Antonelli is "showing up" his team-mate George Russell, who started the season as favourite, but finds himself staring at a 20-point deficit in the championship after four races.
Antonelli's win also marked another statistical milestone for the Italian. Already the youngest pole winner and the youngest driver to lead championship, he is now only the third driver in history to take his first three pole positions in a row. In that, he is in exalted company - Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are the others.
And he joins Hill and Mika Hakkinen as the first driver to win his first three races consecutively. All four of those drivers are world champions. Two of them are in the debate for the greatest driver who has ever lived.
It's a stretch, to say the least, to argue Antonelli is heading into that discussion just yet, but he has made quite the impression already this year. This is only Antonelli's second season in Formula 1. His first showed occasional promise, but nothing that suggested this was going to come next.
Yes, Mercedes have the best car, and yes the fates turned against Russell in various ways in both the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, which he could easily have won. But that should take nothing away from Antonelli, who has stepped up his level this season in dramatic fashion. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff celebrates the Miami victory with Antonelli Antonelli owes his place in F1 to Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, who picked him up as an 11-year-old, wowed by his potential in karting, and has mentored him ever since.