Kimi Antonelli’s current progress has been praised after his wonderful efficiency within the dash race on the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Antonelli completed second at Interlagos, lower than a second behind winner Lando Norris.
After a difficult European season, Antonelli has made regular progress in current races.
He outperformed George Russell on the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix, ending forward of his extra skilled teammate for the primary time on Sunday.
Since Singapore, Antonelli has persistently moved nearer to Russell by way of tempo, an enormous enchancment in comparison with his mid-season troubles.
Three-time W Collection champion Jamie Chadwick praised Antonelli’s growth, describing him as “actually robust”.
“He was actually robust. He is been actually robust the previous couple of races, particularly being away from Europe,” she mentioned.
“It would not all the time present. Generally he is been taken out of place and hasn’t been in a position to make use of his tempo or his full potential, after which hastily he will get to a spot like this and he can come ahead and present it.”
“It has been a very long time coming for him to place collectively a profitable weekend. Now that he has the automobile with confidence this afternoon, it is vital for us to do the identical.”
“It is all the time about rising. Oscar Piastri is in his third season. Kimi is completely different as a result of he has come into this place in a short time.”
“A 12 months in F2. A number of years in the past he was kind of F4. He is been tracked very quick and he is studying below this microscope and below stress. They’re discovering out what’s working internally. It is paying off and he is actually discovering his ft.”
Antonelli ‘ready’ for doable title problem
2026 is predicted to be an vital 12 months for Mercedes, with new technical laws launched.
Present paddock rumors counsel that the group to win subsequent 12 months might be Mercedes, with the give attention to new energy unit guidelines.
Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes Antonelli’s rookie 12 months ought to put together him properly for a doubtlessly race-winning automobile in 2026.
“What they need is to maintain him prepared for subsequent 12 months as a result of they don’t seem to be competing for a championship this 12 months,” Chandhok mentioned.
“They don’t seem to be within the championship race. They’re more likely to be within the championship race subsequent 12 months. There are new laws and there are rumors that they may have a Mercedes energy unit.”
“They wish to ensure that Kimi is able to struggle for the championship, able to deal with the stress. Already in SQ1 he was on the sting. We have seen some traumatic moments the place he reached his restrict and simply overcame.”
“They wish to resolve the difficulty by the top of the season. If we now have a great winter and put together him and the automobile is a title contender, they wish to have Kimi there.”
