Since his first race, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli has looked like a real threat to the Constructor title hopes of Ferrari and Red Bull. The 18-year-old Italian put up another brilliant driving display at Bahrain during qualifying, and will start the Bahrain grand prix from P5.
McLaren’s Oscar Piatri was lightning quick in qualifying and pole position ahead of Lando Norris who will start in P2. While the McLaren’s have shown nothing but dominance since the start of the season, Mercedes has been the second most consistent team in the paddock.
Besides the obvious efforts from senior driver George Russell, the Italian teenager has shown a seasoned display of driving in just four races to prop his team to second place on the constructor standings.
The W16 built by Mercedes this year has been quick through qualifying in Bahrain last night but unfortunately the silver arrow suffered a setback after an error by their team. Both Antonelli and Russell were pushed down one place by stewards after being sent into the fast lane of the pit lane before a session restart time.
Being a replacement driver for 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton was never going to be an easy task for any driver, let alone an 18-year-old, but Antonelli showed poise and has only gotten faster race by race.
From the get go, Antonelli has showed a level of maturity behind the wheel that very few rookies since Michael Schumacher haas exhibited.
He qualified in P16 during his first grand prix in Australia and put up one his best displays so far, finishing the race in P4 after clawing his way up the pack. He’s finished P6 in China and Japan.
Successful F1 drivers are not only fast around the track but also have a good understanding of the mechanics of the car they drive and are able to communicate what they are experiencing with the team in order for improvements or changes to be made.
A typical example of this is Liam Lawson and Red Bull. Despite being a good driver, Lawson was unable to communicate what he felt in the car and thus could not improve his positions.
Yuki Tsunoda was then put in his seat and immediately made changes to the car’s aerodynamics for better control.
Antonelli has been clinical in his comms with his race engineers since starting and has no doubt contributed to his success. So much so that they are now the biggest threat to Red Bull and Ferrari who are struggling to put a decent car together this season. McLaren, meanwhile, race in a league of their own.
The 18-year-old set a lap record around Suzuka Circuit last week, becoming the fastest around the track after beating Max Verstappen’s lap record set in qualifying.
He’s no doubt the hottest rookie in the paddock and has given Mercedes boss Toto Wolff something to smile about since they lost Sir Hamilton. He’s accumulated 30 points after three races in his first season and is 5th on the driver standings while Mercedes are second on Constructor standings, but a bit far away from McLaren.
Even former Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo expressed his disappointment that the young Italian was not at Ferrari, styling him a “ first-rate driver”.
"Antonelli is a first-rate driver, first of all because he's in his first year of F1 and he doesn't make mistakes, but he's fast and I see him growing. And then he's from Bologna, like myself," he said.
"I'm just sorry to see him in Mercedes. Would I have taken him? At 18 maybe not, but I would have put him at Sauber to do two years there. Toto was good at finding him and raising him, like McLaren did with Lewis,” Montezemolo told SkyF1.