Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes driver, has been praised for his maturity and calmness after achieving a narrow victory at the Belgian Grand Prix. Bernie Collins, former Formula 1 strategist and Sky Sports analyst, highlighted the importance of his race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, in his triumph.
Antonelli started from pole at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and once again demonstrated his quality, thus achieving his sixth victory of the season. However, his path to victory was not easy at all.
A poorly timed virtual safety car threatened to divert Antonelli’s attention, allowing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seize the opportunity to make a timely pit stop and briefly take the lead. Antonelli, despite losing time during a suboptimal pit window, kept his cool and ultimately converted pole into victory.
After the race, Collins commented on _Sky Sports F1_: “He managed the calm influence of Bono very well, who provided him with clear indications on where he could improve during the race. Antonelli stayed committed to the strategy and did not get frustrated, knowing that luck might not always be on his side”.
Antonelli thus extended his lead in the drivers’ championship. In a conversation with Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 champion, he described the victory as one of the most difficult: “It’s great to be back in first place after some complicated races. It was a tough race, we lost the first position due to the VSC, but we finally found our way back”. He added that Leclerc was a fast opponent and that he had to fight to keep him at bay.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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