Italian pride
The two consecutive victories of Kimi Antonelli in China and Japan have put Italian motorsport in a position it was no longer used to: with its own representative leading the Formula 1 World Championship. Usually, local motor racing fans, but also ‘occasional’ spectators, were used to hearing the Mameli anthem only for Ferrari’s successes. Now it is no longer like that. Furthermore, given the evident technical superiority that Mercedes has over the competition, it is reasonable to think that Antonelli, maintaining this level of performance, can really aim to play his cards to the end in view of the world title.
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But at this point a question arises: how is a young talent like Antonelli seen on the other side of the English Channel, by those British people who in F1 are used to calling the shots with teams and also with drivers and who probably were already looking forward to a ride for George Russell towards winning the World Championship without any particular hitches? One would say well, listening to the kind words spent on Antonelli by the highly appreciated Sky UK commentator David Croft, who has been commenting on F1 GPs for the British satellite TV for years.
Croft’s analysis and applause for Kimi
In an analysis video published on Sky‘s social channels, Croft applauded Antonelli’s race conduct and his speed, recognizing how he was clearly faster than Russell and how even without the intervention of the Safety Car – which certainly played in his favor – he could still have played his cards to win the top step of the podium.
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“In the free practice sessions I had the feeling that Kimi had one, two, sometimes three tenths of an advantage over George – Croft explained to Sky – George’s problems were certainly not helped by a setup that gave him a rear end that was not exactly ideal, and this was seen in qualifying. I think this was also felt in the race, but apart from this Kimi Antonelli – excluding the start – was absolutely superb in the race. Then he also admitted that the start was his fault. He released the clutch a bit too often, the tires were cold and the wheels spun. Coming back from sixth position at the end of the first lap and then winning was absolutely fantastic, with or without the Safety Car. He was the fastest on track at the time the Safety Car came out and I think he would have put a lot of pressure on his teammate and also on Oscar Piastri anyway. Once he gained that confidence it was as if he had an extra gear than the others, something that gives you a tenth or two more and I think that’s what we saw this weekend,” Croft concluded.
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