Martin Brundle hails Kimi Antonelli’s “...

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Kimi Antonelli has earned excessive reward from former Method 1 driver and Sky Sports activities analyst Martin Brundle, who described the younger Italian’s improvement throughout his second season as “fairly extraordinary”.

Following a high-pressure rookie season in 2025, when he took the place left by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, the 19-year-old turned the youngest driver to steer the championship and has received three consecutive grands prix in China, Japan and Miami.

Talking in the course of the Sky Sports activities F1 broadcast forward of the Canadian Grand Prix, Brundle defined: “He has a robust help construction round him, as do all of the drivers in Method 1 today.

“They’re very fortunate in that respect, however to maintain his head and are available again and shine. After which we noticed Lando looking him down in Miami, for instance. Kimi of final 12 months would in all probability run off the monitor someplace, however this 12 months he is simply rock strong. And that type of progress at his age is simply fairly extraordinary.”

Three-time W Sequence champion Jamie Chadwick, who joined Brundle on the published, added: “He is a little bit of a younger pup in a manner, is not he? He is are available with this superb vitality, and I feel the group have actually loved that, appreciated that.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Picture by: Clive Mason / Getty Photos

“However he is additionally acquired the efficiency, clearly. I feel even the truth that he is half a tenth off George right here, at a monitor George loves, is aware of nicely, he is pushing him so laborious and probably not making that many errors now.

“We spoke about it rather a lot final 12 months: is he a generational expertise or not? I feel time will clearly inform, however he is positively exceeding my expectations anyway for this season.

“His second 12 months in Method 1, he began out not a few years in the past racing, however it’s such a fast-track journey that he is had. However the truth that he is acquired thus far and he is competing on the stage that he is competing at, with the best way Method 1 is now, which is so complicated, is tremendous spectacular.”