Antonelli is winning over Herbert
Johnny Herbert a year ago was not exactly among the very first members of the fan club of Andrea Kimi Antonelli – to put it mildly – but the performance in this 2026 by the Italian driver is also winning the respect of the former British driver now commentator.
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Herbert in particular focused on the maturity and clarity shown by Antonelli at the start of the Madrid GP when he immediately gave back the positions for track cuts made during the first lap.
“When he cut the chicanes on the first lap, he was very quick to give back the position, something Verstappen for example did not do – Herbert’s words reached by CasinoHawks – this shows both intelligence and awareness of what to do, because it allowed him to be in a much better position when the race started to turn in his favor.”
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According to Herbert Verstappen can blame himself for the seconds lost for waiting for Hamilton and letting him pass: “Max is literally squeezing that car to the maximum. It’s incredible. He always manages to get the absolute best out of it, and that is exactly what makes Max so special. The only thing I would probably say is that he should have given the position to Hamilton earlier, and that would have put him in a much more favorable position towards the end of the race. I understand that he felt pushed out, but in F1 you always know how things will go.”
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