Kimi Antonelli like Max Verstappen: “Other drivers must realize he’s a bit crazy”. Kimi Antonelli’s aggressive style draws comparisons to Max Verstappen.

The Sprint Race of the Miami GP left a mark in the Mercedes camp, especially for Andrea Kimi Antonelli after the incident with Piastri. The young Italian driver, after securing a brilliant pole position, was involved in a borderline overtaking move by Oscar Piastri at the first corner—an episode that left an impression, as revealed by Matteo Bobbi to Sky Sport F1.

“Believe me, I spoke with his father earlier: today he was burned by what Oscar Piastri did to him. But tomorrow, he’ll pay him back with interest if the chance arises,” said Matteo Bobbi, implying that Kimi Antonelli did not take the Australian’s aggressive move lightly.

The commentator pointed out a clear difference in stakes between the two: Oscar Piastri is fighting for the championship, while Kimi Antonelli is only at his sixth Formula 1 race. This makes the young Italian talent less burdened by pressure and, according to Bobbi, ready to demand respect.

“Piastri is fighting for the world title and has everything to lose. Kimi Antonelli is at his sixth race in F1 and has nothing to lose, but he must increase the level of respect other drivers have for him. With that move, Piastri walked all over him,” he explained, adding that Antonelli must make it clear to the rest of the grid that he’s not an easy target.

The same kind of respect all drivers now have when racing Max Verstappen, who always defends his position with “crazy” moves.

A small qualifying mistake
Matteo Bobbi also commented on Antonelli’s qualifying performance, highlighting a detail that made the difference. “He was also burned in qualifying—we talked about it with his engineer Bono. He slightly lost out in Turn 1, attacking very aggressively to start the lap, but there he made a small slip-up,” said Bobbi, referring to Peter “Bono” Bonnington, former engineer of Lewis Hamilton and now Kimi Antonelli’s race engineer.

“In the transition between Turn 1 and Turn 2 he gave up a bit in terms of throttle application. That mistake carried through the rest of the lap, but the final gap was very small. Mercedes quantified that error at nearly a tenth,” he added.

Despite the episode, Kimi Antonelli’s growth is continuous and clear to all, and he still has a few races left to break the record as the youngest pole-sitter in Formula 1 history.