With a bit of luck Kimi exploited his pace
George Russell in the final stages of the Japanese GP was unable to get the better of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, staying off the podium, and the same had happened in the first stint to Andrea Kimi Antonelli until the Ferrari driver was called into the pits, leaving the way clear for the Italian Mercedes driver who was then able to fly undisturbed towards his second consecutive success thanks to the Safety Car which allowed him to make his pit stop while remaining the race leader.
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Antonelli had overtaken Leclerc before the Triangle chicane, but then failed to defend the position also due to an obvious slide at the exit of the last corner. Leclerc responded to his rival’s attack on the start-finish straight, retaking the position well before reaching the braking point of Turn-1 where the Monegasque then performed two feats against Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
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In the press conference, Antonelli explained why Leclerc proved to be an insurmountable bulwark despite a Mercedes that was clearly superior on paper: “It was very difficult to be behind Leclerc because we had two completely different energy management strategies – Antonelli explained – it was very difficult to find the point where to overtake, fortunately he pitted leaving me a clear path. Without the Safety Car I don’t know how it would have ended, I was lucky.”
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