For 30 laps, the No.1 sticker on the papaya-coloured car of Lando Norris loomed large in the rear-view mirrors of Kimi Antonelli. The reigning world champion was at his absolute best, reinvigorated by the McLaren upgrades they brought to Miami. On hard tyres, his car was faster than Antonelli’s Mercedes, a fact manifested by the Sprint win on Saturday.
But Antonelli didn’t flinch or make an error despite the extreme pressure from Norris, who largely stayed within a second’s gap of the Italian. For 30 laps, the 19-year-old absorbed the stress and strain to earn a third successive victory, becoming the first F1 driver to win his first three races from first three pole positions.
The win was not just a statement from the teenager; it also changed the narrative that had dominated pre-season talks about his teammate George Russell being the title favourite. The Briton lived up to the expectations in the first race when he won in Melbourne. But ever since, he has played second fiddle to the much-less experienced Antonelli, who has taken every pole and won every race since then.
And now, all of a sudden, he is the talk of the town as he leads the championship with a healthy 20-point margin over Russell despite his inexperience. But the Italian is keeping his feet on the ground.
“This is just the beginning; the road is still long. But we’re working super hard, the team is doing an incredible job, and without them I wouldn’t be here — so it’s mainly thanks to them, my family. I’m going to enjoy this one and then get back to work,” said Antonelli.
Though Antonelli took the chequered flag first, the start wasn’t all rosy despite starting from pole as the Mercedes driver slipped to fourth after a heavy lock-up before regaining composure and settling into a rhythm to fight back into the podium spots.
The Italian displayed impeccable maturity to first fight for the lead with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and then managed a gearbox issue while battling Norris in a thriller of a race. A smart and early pit call helped Antonelli undercut Norris for the top spot, a position he never relinquished once it was in his grasp.
Despite a high-tension pursuit by Norris, who hounded the Mercedes and often closed the gap to within 0.3 seconds, Antonelli was inch-perfect, positioning his car in such a way at the track’s primary overtaking spots that it refused Norris an opening. Antonelli did this notwithstanding his fading rear-tyre grip.
Towards the end, Antonelli managed to break the tow to Norris and moved out of the Overtake zone to stretch his lead to 3.264 seconds when taking the chequered flag. His victory was defined by a combination of tactical composure and defensive precision, both while chasing and leading, delivering a masterclass.
“It reminds me of his karting days, there were no mistakes,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, adding that it was Antonelli’s best race yet. “The pressure on him… he takes it so well, analyses it but doesn’t overthink it… we just really need to stay calm here because such success for such a young man at this stage means all of Italy will be on him.”
With three wins in as many races, Antonelli has shown that he’s no pushover, but rather a challenger for the biggest prize in all motorsport, ready to take the battle to his much more experienced teammate.
“This is the long game; he has a killer of a teammate who is extremely fast. We want to play the long game, he can hopefully win many championships over 10-15 years. We don’t want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him. I don’t think any of us would have expected this kind of run,” added Wolff.
