Kimi Antonelli believes he has “got to take every opportunity” possible in the title battle, with victory in the Belgian Grand Prix extending his margin over team mate George Russell to 50 points after the Briton retired.
Antonelli claimed his sixth win of the season during Sunday’s 44-lap race at Spa-Francorchamps, and his first since the Monaco Grand Prix after two non-scores in the previous three races due to car problems.
Having briefly lost the lead from pole position on the exit of La Source to Max Verstappen, Antonelli was back in P1 before Les Combes and controlled the opening stint before making his first pit stop.
The Italian teenager had to fight back into the lead, though, after Charles Leclerc was able to pit under a short Virtual Safety car and get ahead of the Mercedes, with Antonelli only regaining the lead 10 laps from the end.
“It’s great to be back on the top step after obviously a few difficult rounds,” said Antonelli.
“Was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with a VSC but then we managed to make our way back. Was a tough win because Charles was quick and we had to hold onto that.”
The win proved even more significant as Russell was eliminated on the opening lap after a collision with Lewis Hamilton – the Ferrari driver being handed a five-second penalty for the incident.
Antonelli now sits 45 points ahead of Hamilton, who finished fourth but with an unsafe pit release investigation looming, and a further five ahead of Russell.
“I think the momentum was always there,” said Antonelli on his previous bad run of form.
“Was just about getting the result and today we were a bit lucky in terms of what happened with the championship but that’s why you’ve got to take every opportunity.
“We saw that it can swing really easily, the situation, so we [have] just got to keep performing, keep bringing the result and we’ll see what happens at the end of the year.”
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