Max Verstappen was not surprised how Andrea Kimi Antonelli was able to bounce back during the course of F1 2025 after a brief slump in European leg.
Mercedes’ Antonelli started his first F1 season in a decent note and also had his first podium in Canada. But the slump happened around it especially on tracks in Europe which he raced on previously. The Italian almost had a situation where he did well on tracks he raced at for the first time.
His slump was so hard that he lost all confidence and needed a special meeting with Toto Wolff and Peter Bonnington to clear his mindset after Monza. But a timely reversal of an update from Mercedes and start of the flyaway races, Antonelli regained lost confidence and results started to come.
He handsomely kept off Red Bull’s Verstappen in Brazil and followed it up with a sound Top 5 in Las Vegas, which converted into a podium due to McLaren’s double disqualification. He ended up F1 2025 with another Top 5 in Qatar, but just failed to get through Lewis Hamilton for P6 in the standings.
For Verstappen, he always thought Antonelli would bounce back. He wasn’t surprised with the performance of the Italian, as he shared an advice about not overdoing things and keeping it simple. He expects more from the youngster in the time to come, as he gains experience.
“I mean, honestly, I was of course doing my own race in Las Vegas and it was always just between myself, Lando and George,” recalled Verstappen. “So I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to what was happening behind that. But yeah, when he told me that, I was like, ‘wow, that’s really good’. And then of course, I saw also the way that he did it to keep the tyres alive.
“I think he did an incredible stint, even compared to George in the same car. So yeah, he’s been performing really well and he’s been performing really well on tracks that he didn’t know. So that’s even more impressive, I would say. And it’s something that I personally wasn’t too surprised about, that he would do it. I think you just need to let it happen.
“Don’t overdrive or force it too much. And maybe that was happening earlier in 2025 [got him]. And it might be for him. It’s great to see. And yeah, I hope that it can continue in that way [in 2026]. In Brazil, yeah, good [fight with him].
“I mean, of course, I was pushing as hard as I could to get by, try to put him under pressure. But unfortunately, I would say one lap short, but that’s how racing is, right? You cannot say that an extra lap is needed. But again, that was a very strong performance from his side,” summed up Verstappen.
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