After more than a month away from racing, the Formula 1 World Championship is back in action, and ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend one of the main figures in focus is Kimi Antonelli. The Italian driver has enjoyed a sensational start to the season, with victories in China and Japan that have taken him to the top of the drivers’ standings. As he returns to the track, Antonelli said he feels ready and fully focused, aware that a challenging battle awaits him, both in terms of internal competition with his teammate and external pressure from rivals who may have closed the gap to Mercedes during the break.
Antonelli leads the championship: “I need to keep raising the bar, I have a very strong teammate”
During the month-long break, Italian motorsport fans have looked with pride at the Formula 1 championship standings, which currently feature a tricolour leader at the top. During the pre-weekend press conference, Kimi Antonelli was asked whether he feels pressure from this situation.
“I am aware of what is happening, but I try not to focus too much on it or worry,” the Italian driver replied. “The season is still very long and I know that I just need to keep raising the bar because I have an extremely strong, fast and complete teammate. It is a bit like a new beginning for me and I need to be ready, because it will not be easy and it will be important to try to maintain or even improve my level further.”
Looking at the level shown in the first three races, it is natural to expect potential head-to-head battles with George Russell throughout the season.
“I think the team was very clear with us from the very first race in Australia,” Antonelli explained. “They told us: ‘you can race each other, but obviously with respect, without trying to do anything stupid. We both want to win and get the best result, but at the same time we also want what is best for the team. George and I are fully aware that we can race each other. Of course, the team has given us the green light because they want to give both of us the same opportunities, so we can fight each other but in a clean way.”
On rule changes: “It will not solve everything, but it is a step in the right direction”
One of the key topics ahead of the Miami weekend is the set of rule adjustments introduced by the FIA during the break, following clear weaknesses identified in the first three Grands Prix.
“I don’t think everything will suddenly become much better, but I do think it is a good first step in the right direction,” said the championship leader. “We will obviously see how far we can go with these changes, but we are trying to work collectively for the good of the sport.”
Looking inside his own garage, Antonelli also gave insight into the work carried out during the break, particularly focused on start simulations and launch procedures.
“We worked together with the team to try to identify what the problem was and it looks like we found it,” he revealed. “Now we know what we need to work on in order to find the first solution. It will not be extremely straightforward because it requires quite a significant change in how I move the clutch paddles and how my hands are positioned. It will not be very linear, but we are doing our best to find a solution as soon as possible so we can have decent starts. Mine was more of a ‘basic’ issue, we will see if we can make some progress here in Miami.”
On rivals: “We may have to fight much harder this weekend”
Shifting focus to the upcoming weekend, Antonelli heads into a track that could be considered a ‘friendly’ one, at least based on his debut performance last season.
“It is nice to come back to the place where I achieved my first sprint pole last year,” he recalled. “Clearly this year it will be different with these cars, but it will be a very interesting weekend for us. We are bringing only small updates, while other teams are bringing much bigger upgrades, for example Ferrari and McLaren, and Red Bull is also bringing a fairly substantial package.”
One of the major question marks discussed during the break is how much the chasing teams will be able to close the gap to the benchmark set by Toto Wolff’s squad.
“They will definitely get closer and we might need to fight much harder this weekend, but we will do our best. We will keep our heads down and try to extract the maximum. From my side, I will try to get the most out of the car’s performance, do my best, and then we will see what the result will be.”
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