06/05/2025 20:10
Kimi Antonelli had the best weekend of his young F1 career at the
Miami Grand Prix, claiming a historic pole position for the sprint.
The 18-year-old became the youngest to do so in F1, eclipsing
Sebastian Vettel's record by two-and-a-half years. The fact it did
not occur in a grand prix qualifying session - and thus does not
take the record for that - is merely a footnote to how impressive
it was. For Antonelli to even be in F1 at his age is exceptional,
let alone performing to the standard he is. Having skipped FIA F3
entirely en route to F2, it almost emulates the meteoric ascension
of Max Verstappen a decade ago. Toto Wolff missed out on the
Dutchman then and he was not about to make the same mistake twice.
Having let the now-four-time F1 drivers' champion slip through his
fingers, Antonelli was elevated to an F1 race seat less than a year
after the Italian clinched the Formula Regional crown. However, to
many it was far too early. A point of view emboldened by the
Mercedes driver's heavy crash just 10 minutes into his FP1 debut at
Monza. It is hard to argue he is not ready now, or was not ready
when he stormed through the field in Melbourne on debut. If
Verstappen was the most recently-proven generational talent,
Antonelli is the next. But whilst there are undeniable parallels to
the former's rise, he is not the racing driver the latter evokes.
Not Verstappen, but Senna Watching Antonelli's pole lap at the
Miami International Autodrome was compelling viewing. He wove
through the corners with a delicate balance. He was poised on the
edge, floating, dancing. In many ways, it was Verstappen-esque.
Although, the Red Bull driver is more clinical, more ruthlessly
consistent; there is something robotic about the way he finds and
delivers his lap time. That is his brilliance. Antonelli is more
raw, more unrefined. More like Ayrton Senna. Interestingly, it is
the three-time F1 drivers' champion who Verstappen has often been
compared to. But I'm not so sure I see that to the same extent as I
do with Antonelli. Full disclosure: After the round in the Sunshine
State, I wrote it was a bold claim to say he is the second coming
of Senna, and one that is far too early to make. I stand by that.
You would hope so, that was only 24 hours prior to writing this.
But it did get me thinking... Antonelli possesses the power to move
a nation, as Senna did. An important caveat Now, the Mercedes
driver being unpolished should come as no surprise. He is six
rounds into his Formula 1 career after all, and that might change.
But it didn't for the Brazilian. And that was immediately who came
to mind watching that lap in Florida. So whilst it is far too
premature to make grand claims of succession, it doesn't stop us
from asking the question - or at least sewing the seed that he
might flourish into the heir to that particular throne. He has an
awfully long way to go, just look at how the sprint and grand prix
in Miami unfolded for him. Although, how he raced a certain
Senna-like flair to it. But rarely do rookies touch F1 with the
deft hand of excellence in the way Senna - and the likes of Michael
Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton did. Antonelli threatens to do the
same. And before this is dismissed as hopeless romanticism for F1's
biggest legend and most painful what if , I have often found the
deification of Senna, or at least the extent of it, strange. He may
be the most popular connoisseurs' choice, but the methodical
approach of Alain Prost always spoke more to me, so this is purely
a case of call it how you see it . Style and substance There is a
beautiful, and obvious, symmetry to it. Some might call it poetic.
Although, I'm not sure I would, for is perhaps somewhat
manufactured on account of Senna being Antonelli's racing hero and
the famed number 12 now adoring his W16. That is the cynic in me.
Their journeys are - and will continue to be - different. Senna did
not reach F1 until the age of 24 and had to work his way up the
grid, putting in the hard yards and hard graft from Toleman to
Lotus to McLaren to attain greatness. That is not to say Antonelli
has not earned his seat at Mercedes, for what it is worth, but to
be placed immediately into podium-capable machinery is more
Hamilton than it is Senna. That is no slight on the Ferrari driver,
it is just a different path. But make no mistake, the ties are more
significant than circumstance, or the mere coincidence Antonelli
was born in Emilia Romagna, the same region in which Imola, where
Senna lost his life, is located. Antonelli possesses the power to
move a nation, as Senna did. Italy, for its deep and enduring love
of motorsport, has been starved of success in F1 for the longest
time - even when you include Ferrari. Alberto Ascari won three
drivers' titles, but his last came in 1953 - just the fourth year
in the championship's now 75-year history. When an Italian last won
a grand prix, at the hands of Giancarlo Fisichella in the Malaysian
Grand Prix in 2006, Antonelli was not even born. So, whilst it is
far, far to early to claim, with 41 grand prix victories, 65 pole
positions and three championships to go, the young Mercedes driver
absolutely does have the opportunity to echo Senna - in both style
and in substance.
