{"id":26890,"date":"2024-11-19T08:41:55","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T13:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=26890"},"modified":"2024-11-19T08:47:05","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T13:47:05","slug":"kimi-antonelli-i-want-to-beat-russell-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/11\/19\/kimi-antonelli-i-want-to-beat-russell-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli: I want to beat Russell next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli<\/a> is one of the most highly anticipated rookies in recent memory. The Italian driver must adapt quickly to life at the sharp end of the field – but he is not afraid of setting ambitious targets.<\/p>\n

Immediate pressure on Kimi Antonelli to perform<\/h2>\n

Over the last few seasons, a common narrative in Formula 1 has been that rookies need time to adapt and fulfil their potential.<\/p>\n

However, the immediate performance being shown by Franco Colapinto<\/a> has essentially ended this consensus.<\/p>\n

Even putting aside Colapinto’s brilliant debut, Kimi Antonelli cannot afford to spend a few seasons getting up to speed.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old will be likely compete with the likes of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from round one in Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Any shortcomings will be impossible to hide, unlike other drivers who have made their F1 debuts with teams further down the field.<\/p>\n

Antonelli: I want to outperform George Russell<\/h4>\n

Despite the immense pressure surrounding him, Kimi Antonelli is more than confident he can rise to the challenge:<\/p>\n

“The great speed – I had that right from the start,”<\/em> Antonelli told Gazzetta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I struggled at the beginning with the race pace, but after a test at Spa they [Mercedes] saw a clear step forward and were convinced.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Although Lewis Hamilton’s exit forced Mercedes’ hand, the Silver Arrows have clearly shown immense faith in Antonelli’s abilities.<\/p>\n

Mercedes’ decision at the end of 2023 to put Antonelli directly into Formula 2 (skipping Formula 3) was early evidence of their conviction.<\/p>\n

Antonelli himself shares this mentality, explaining that he wants to outperform teammate George Russell<\/a> from day one:<\/p>\n

“I have a good relationship with George, he didn’t give me great advice, but for now everything is fine.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But next year, I want to beat him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
2024 Brazilian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mercedes to evaluate their new line-up<\/h4>\n

Antonelli’s comments are refreshingly candid, with the 18-year-old speaking openly about his ambitions.<\/p>\n

Whilst all drivers want to beat their teammates, very few make it an explicit target in their rookie season. Even fewer would make such comments against a driver of Russell’s calibre.<\/p>\n

Then again, Toto Wolff<\/a> hasn’t shown such enthusiasm for the youngster because he envisages him as a ‘number 2’ driver<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mercedes clearly see Kimi Antonelli as the future. In around four months, the team will have their first indications into how he compares to George Russell.<\/p>\n

The inter-team battle at Brackley will be a fascinating one, especially since next year’s W16<\/a> should fight for podiums at the bare minimum – and potentially race victories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli is one of the most highly anticipated rookies in recent memory. The Italian driver must adapt quickly to life at the sharp end of the field – but he is not afraid of setting ambitious targets. Immediate pressure on Kimi Antonelli to perform Over the last few seasons, a common narrative in Formula […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":25956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,2390,465,121],"class_list":["post-26890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-antonelli","tag-f1-news","tag-mercedes"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}