Kimi Antonelli at Monza, Just Like Alberto Ascari: His Reflections

At the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured a hard-fought yet valuable second-place finish behind the race winner, Lando Norris. Regardless of his finish in the first race following Formula 1’s summer break, however, the Mercedes driver was already aware that he was wrapping up the weekend and kicking off his preparations for Monza with a truly remarkable statistic. In fact, he will be the first Italian driver to arrive at the Brianza circuit as the leader of the drivers’ championship since the days of Alberto Ascari.

This is something Antonelli is certainly aware of, but he has no intention of letting it affect him. “I don’t feel the pressure; in fact, I think I’ll be able to enjoy the Monza weekend even more than last year,” Kimi told ‘Sky Sport’. I can’t wait to enjoy the Italian Grand Prix weekend; I’ll have a huge opportunity to put in a good race and score more important points. That will certainly be the case, even if I’m serving a penalty. Here at Zandvoort, I couldn’t have done better than second; that was the best possible result because the rear of the Mercedes was really very unstable.”

The Dutch Grand Prix weekend had gotten off to a rocky start for Antonelli. In Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, the Bologna native went wide into the gravel during SQ1, damaging the underbody of his Mercedes and suffering an estimated loss of about twenty-five downforce points. Although the mechanics worked tirelessly to minimize the damage, the issue affected the rest of the session, relegating him to fifth on the Sprint grid. In Saturday’s sprint race, Antonelli finished fourth, behind Russell, Leclerc, and Norris, choosing not to risk a collision with the McLaren driver when the opportunity to overtake arose.

Sunday’s final result is therefore even more significant, given the difficulties that had accumulated over the course of the weekend. With this second-place finish, Antonelli further solidifies his lead in the Drivers’ Championship, extending his advantage over Lewis Hamilton—now second in the standings, tied on points with George Russell—to an increasingly substantial margin. Behind him, Ferrari missed the opportunity to close the gap: Hamilton and Leclerc finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Ferrari also paying the price for some internal tensions related to the strategic management of pit stops, as Hamilton had made no secret of his frustration at not being given priority over his teammate at the decisive moment of the race.

The path that has brought Antonelli to this point in the season has been built race by race with a consistency that has impressed industry insiders. Six wins in total, including the Monaco Grand Slam and the historic triumph at Spa-Francorchamps—which made him the first Italian to win at the Belgian circuit since Alberto Ascari in 1953 — tell the story of a simply dominant first half of the season for a driver who celebrated his 20th birthday on August 25, just a few days before the race at Zandvoort. A performance that has won over even the most skeptical, as evidenced by the chorus of praise that emerged during the summer break: from former Haas team principal Günther Steiner, who is convinced that Kimi “will take home the title,” to former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who bluntly declared, “Kimi Antonelli will win the World Championship,” all the way to Max Verstappen himself, who had described him as “really strong, really solid—the strongest on the team.”

Further evidence of the calm with which Antonelli is experiencing this golden moment comes from a curious episode during the summer break: the Bologna native had participated incognito in a go-kart race in Germany, using the pseudonym “Franz Antonelli” — a playful nod to the pseudonym “Franz Hermann” adopted by Verstappen during testing at the Nürburgring — winning by more than a second and a half over the runner-up. In the days leading up to that, in Sardinia, he had already made headlines by breaking the lap record at the “Pista dei Campioni” kart track in Baja Sardinia, previously held by Charles Leclerc. These details paint a picture of a young man capable of recharging his batteries while staying true to himself, now ready to tackle Monza with the lightheartedness and determination that have distinguished him throughout the season.