Current Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli has detailed the lessons he is learning from racing alongside champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The Italian driver joined race winner Verstappen and third-placed Hamilton on the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after crossing the line in second.
Speaking during the post-race press conference at the Sepang International Circuit, Antonelli discussed racing against the four-time and seven-time champions.
“It’s always great to, first of all, be able to share the track, in this case with Max and Lewis, because they’re definitely rewriting… Well, Lewis basically did the history of the sport and Max is doing the same,” the Mercedes driver explained.
“So on my side, I try to learn as much as possible whenever I drive closely to them.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was chaotic. The race began after an hour and 40-minute delay due to heavy rainfall, and the chaos continued throughout the race.
Although Antonelli had a successful race, converting a third-place start to a second-place finish, he said he still learned how to deal with those conditions from Verstappen and Hamilton, especially with multiple safety car restarts.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Today was a really good showcase of how Max handled the restart on slick tyres and the slippery track,” Antonelli continued. “He just knew much better how to position the car and had a better feeling for the grip in those first two corners and overtook me.
“So that was really good. Even though it was not nice to get overtaken, I was very annoyed with that, it was still a good way to learn from that and to use it in the future.
“And then with Lewis, I think we’ve seen many, many times, many years, that even when things go badly, he always keeps his head down and tries to do his best to achieve the best result possible.”
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