Gunther Steiner’s comments on Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton are sparking debate

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is getting closer and closer to the world championship title, and comparisons are beginning to be drawn with the great champions, both recent and from the past. Former Haas team principal Gunther Steiner sparked debate with his comments on the Red Flags podcast, where he discussed a hypothetical Lewis Hamilton-Kimi Antonelli pairing at Mercedes.

“Would Hamilton have won if he’d been in Russell’s place? No, because Kimi is incredibly talented. Antonelli would be the best, the fastest. I truly believe he’d beat Lewis in the same car. The same goes if he were at Ferrari. If you asked me, ‘Who would you choose, Charles or Kimi?’, I’d choose Kimi.”

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s longtime advisor, echoed this sentiment in statements to OE24: “Kimi Antonelli is now on another level. It’s safe to assume that next season the battle for the world title will be between him and Verstappen.”

After the Bahrain Grand Prix held in Malaysia, Antonelli leads the standings with 320 points—84 more than his teammate George Russell and 106 more than Lewis Hamilton, who is third with Ferrari. The Mercedes driver has won 8 Grand Prix races and secured 13 podium finishes this season, compared to Russell’s 3 wins and 8 podiums. According to projections, Antonelli could mathematically clinch the title as early as October 25 in Austin, at the United States Grand Prix, with five races remaining. The most likely scenarios, however, remain the Mexican Grand Prix on November 1 or the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 8: winning at Interlagos, on Ayrton Senna’s home track, would hold special significance for a driver who has often been compared to the legendary Brazilian champion.