On the podium, the four-time world champion once again directed attention toward the Mercedes driver. The praise continued in the press conference: has the Dutchman chosen his favorite rookie? When asked for his opinion on the 19-year-old Italian, Max Verstappen offered advice from a champion to a future champion:
“Keep believing in yourself. In a rookie season, you go through a rollercoaster of emotions,” Max Verstappen explained. “Some weekends go better than others. Sometimes you have high expectations, sometimes things don’t work out. You make mistakes. You have good weekends. But at the end of the day, it’s all part of the learning curve. You have to make mistakes to become a better driver, even in Formula 1.”
Kimi Antonelli’s debut season has had its ups and downs, but the reigning world champion acknowledges his talent on track: “I think this year has been a big learning curve for Kimi, but at the same time, he is very fast. I’ve seen it in every category he has raced in. For him, having a weekend like he had here was really strong.”
A podium, Max Verstappen continued, “gives you a good dose of confidence.” Much of the credit also goes to Mercedes, which “is helping him a lot to extract his full potential,” he added before concluding: “So he is in a very good position, and it’s also something nice to celebrate.”
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