The Red Tide Conquered
Andrea Kimi Antonelli arrives in Madrid, for the Spanish GP, probably in the best condition of the entire season: the Italian is the World Championship leader with a 66-point lead over the first chaser and is coming off the unforgettable victory in Monza, in which he even managed to make Ferrari fans cheer for him, who put aside their ‘red’ support to properly celebrate the first victory of an Italian driver in the home race in the last 60 years.
“For me, it was fantastic to see so many Ferrari fans cheering and shouting my name while I was on the podium and also during the race – said Antonelli speaking with journalists present in Madrid at his traditional pre-weekend press conference – I believe the fans made the difference, because in the last ten or fifteen laps, every time I exited the First Variant, I saw the stands on the right and noticed that everyone stood up as I passed by“.
No World Championship Thoughts
Despite the magical moment and the very large lead in the standings, Antonelli continues to dislike discussions about the possible World Championship win: “I don’t even know how many races are left, probably about ten, so the road is still long – said the Mercedes driver – I think it’s still early and I don’t want to start thinking about the championship; Monza showed that I wasn’t worrying about the standings, I was just trying to win and give my maximum. This is my approach: of course, in the future there might be situations where, before making a decision, I will think about the championship. But what I want to avoid at all costs is going on track – whether it’s free practice, qualifying, or the race itself – thinking or worrying about the championship“.
Regarding the ‘internal derby at Mercedes’ that sees him opposed to George Russell, who has returned to being his main chaser in the championship, Antonelli said he is convinced that Mercedes will not play favorites: “I believe that at Mercedes there is no real ‘number one driver’, because they want to offer both the same opportunities; George is an incredible driver and has been in great form in the last two races, so it certainly doesn’t seem to me that there is a ‘number one driver’. The team treats us the same and gives us the same chances. I don’t feel like the undisputed leader, I rather feel that we are both on the same level: that’s how it should be, it’s the right way“.
