Ralf Schumacher Speaks Candidly About Kimi Antonelli: “He Has Allies Now”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has all but clinched the Formula 1 World Championship following his victories at Monza and Madrid: this is the view of Ralf Schumacher, who sees almost no opposition left to the Italian Mercedes driver’s overwhelming dominance. “I think Kimi Antonelli will wrap up the championship with relative ease.”

“I’m not ready to consider the battle completely over just yet. In F1, you never know—something could happen at the start, you could crash, or have an engine problem. So it’s certainly not over yet. But under normal circumstances, I’d say that by now no one has a chance anymore,” he told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

Schumacher sees a sort of alliance among the three drivers who finished on the podium in Madrid: Antonelli, Verstappen, and Norris: “Those three get along very well. It seems a new friendship is forming, especially with Kimi. You can clearly see that he and Norris get along very well, and Max Verstappen is also part of this group. Lando is number one at McLaren, Kimi at Mercedes, and Max at Red Bull. So there are no more obstacles.”

The former German driver doesn’t think the four-time Dutch world champion has much of a chance of returning to the title fight anytime soon: “Max is calm, but he knows he can’t fight for the championship this year, and he probably won’t be able to do so next year either.”