The 19-year-old Italian continued his impressive run of form, once again finishing ahead of teammate George Russell — just as he had done in Mexico. In the closing stages at Interlagos, Verstappen mounted a strong attack on fresh Soft tyres, putting Kimi Antonelli’s podium finish in serious danger. Despite the pressure, the Mercedes driver managed the gap intelligently, keeping the Red Bull star behind until the very end.
Antonelli’s words after the race
Despite a risky moment early in the race when he made contact with Oscar Piastri, Antonelli managed to bring his W16 home in second place. While he never had the pace to challenge Lando Norris — who dominated from start to finish — the Italian found himself under heavy pressure from Max Verstappen in the final laps. “I don’t know where he [Verstappen] came from, I honestly didn’t expect to see him that close,” Antonelli said after the race.
“I was lucky to come out unscathed from that contact after the restart. The car felt a bit strange afterwards, but it was still a good race overall,” he continued. “In the final laps it was stressful because Max was getting closer on fresher tyres. Luckily, I had clean air in front of me, which allowed me to maintain a solid pace.”
The Mercedes driver also described the tense final laps with Max Verstappen in his mirrors: “I found my rhythm again. When Max started catching up, I pushed a little harder and picked up the pace. It’s really difficult to follow closely in dirty air, and I tried to use that to my advantage.”
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