Antonelli’s Brazil Weekend Takes Him From F1 Rookie to Rival Status

Antonelli had excellent performance all weekend at Interlagos, qualifying in P2 for both the sprint and the grand prix, and tied it all off with a podium finish in both events. He came second only to the McLaren of Lando Norris on both Saturday and Sunday.

In just his first year in F1, Antonelli has been on the podium a total of three times; first in Canada, where he showed magnificent speed in a chaotic race to take third place, and now twice in São Paulo.

What’s more, with his P2 starts, he has become one of the youngest drivers on the front row in F1 history, outdone only by Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen himself.

But just because it was a successful weekend for the youngest driver on the grid, doesn’t mean that it was an easy one.

During a safety car restart after home hero Gabriel Bortoleto found the wall early in the grand prix, Antonelli’s car was clipped by Oscar Piastri. This caused him to swerve into the side of Charles Leclerc, who suffered damage to the suspension of his Ferrari from the contact. Antonelli was lucky to walk away from the collision with minimal damage of his own.

“I was lucky to come away with the restart, with the contact,” Antonelli said during the on-track post-race interviews. “[We] need to check with the car, it felt a bit weird afterwards. But you know, still, a good race.”

Yet despite walking away mostly unscathed, the hard work was far from over. In the last stint of the race, Antonelli found himself defending his position from Verstappen.

“I don't know where this guy came from, to be honest,” Antonelli said, “I didn't see it coming.”

Indeed, few were expecting Verstappen to make a run for points let alone podium positions after his Q1 exit in Qualifying on Saturday, and a pitlane start on Sunday.

“The last half hour felt very stressful with Max coming with fresher tires,” remarked Antonelli. “Luckily, with free air, we were able to maintain a decent pace and to finish on P2.”

The full results of the São Paulo Grand Prix can be found below:

Position	Driver Name	Team	Time	Points
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:32:01.596	25
2	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+10.388s	18
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+10.750s	15
4	George Russell	Mercedes	+15.267s	12
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+15.749s	10
6	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+29.630s	8
7	Liam Lawson	Visa Cash App RB	+52.642s	6
8	Isack Hadjar	Visa Cash App RB	+52.873s	4
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Stake F1 Team	+53.324s	2
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+53.914s	1
11	Alexander Albon	Williams	+54.184s	-
12	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+54.696s	-
13	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+55.420s	-
14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+55.766s	-
15	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+57.777s	-
16	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+58.247s	-
17	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	+69.176s	-
NC	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	DNF	-
NC	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	DNF	-
NC	Gabriel Bortoleto	Stake F1 Team	DNF	-