On Sunday, Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished second in the São Paulo Grand Prix. Starting from the front row, the Mercedes rookie drove a strong and mature race, conceding only to Lando Norris – he even impressively held Max Verstappen at bay. Thanks to this result, Mercedes further solidified their second place in the constructors’ championship. With Ferrari’s double retirement, the Silberpfeile dealt a significant blow.
In the final stages, Kimi Antonelli had a run-in with Max Verstappen. The Dutchman had already outmaneuvered George Russell, but ran out of laps to overtake the young Italian as well. “I don’t know where he came from,” Antonelli grinned afterwards. “I didn’t see it coming at all.” The second place is his best ever result in Formula 1. However, Antonelli nearly had to retire early from the race when his car was hit hard by Oscar Piastri at the restart.
“I was lucky not to sustain too much damage from that touch at the restart,” said Antonelli. “The car felt a bit strange afterwards, but it was still a good race. In those last few laps, it was quite exciting when Max was coming,” he laughed. “I was in my rhythm and when he got closer, I just started to push more. With these cars and in the dirty air, it’s sometimes hard to chase, so I tried to use that to my advantage.”
