Kimi Antonelli has outlined his determination to stay focused on the bigger picture after securing his first F1 victory last time out at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Italian insisting that he wants to be in contention for the title.
At 19 years old, he entered the record books as the sport’s second-youngest race winner after he evaded the pressure of his Mercedes team mate George Russell and their rivals at Ferrari following close behind in Shanghai.
It wasn’t the easiest journey to the chequered flag – Antonelli had to recover from a collision in the Sprint to claim pole position, and then initially dropped behind Lewis Hamilton at lights out. However, he patiently reclaimed the lead on the second lap and controlled the race calmly, with the exception of a scary lock-up with a few laps remaining.
Reflecting on the aftermath of his victory, Antonelli said: “Definitely life outside racing has changed quite a bit. I enjoyed the moment a lot but I try to keep myself grounded because I think it’s really easy to get carried away with the moment and kind of lose the focus on the ultimate goal.”
That goal, he added, is to compete for the Drivers’ Championship, in which he currently sits four points behind Russell. But with 20 rounds still to unfold, Antonelli is aware that it’s a matter of producing consistently strong results and wants to continue with another “two or three” wins in the short-term.
“I really want to be in this fight because we have a great car and great opportunity,” he added. “Of course, the one thing I’m lacking is experience still because it’s only my second year and experience is something you cannot buy.
“I’m going to try and be ready for anything and for every kind of situation to be able to put myself in the best position possible in case the opportunity is presented.
“I know we have a really good car and I’m going to try and maximise the result.”
The Silver Arrows have dominated proceedings so far, locking out the front row in both Australia and China, but Ferrari appear more resolute than ever to close the gap and begin fighting for wins, which will push Antonelli and Mercedes to continue scoring as highly as possible while they still can.
“It’s been crazy but I’ve been enjoying the moment,” Antonelli commented. “It’s been good fun but at the same time, I just moved the focus very quickly onto this weekend.
“China was incredible, winning was probably the best day of my life so far. But we’ve still got 20 races left so [I] just want to keep the momentum going and hopefully we can achieve something great this weekend as well.”
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