Here's the thing about sharing a Formula 1 podium with heavyweights: you take notes, or you get left behind. As Motorsport.com reports, current championship leader Kimi Antonelli has been detailing exactly what he is learning from racing alongside the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
The Italian driver crossed the line in second place at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, joining race winner Verstappen and third-placed Hamilton on the podium. Speaking during the post-race press conference at the Sepang International Circuit, the Mercedes driver opened up about sharing the track with the four-time and seven-time champions.
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,
"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."
That education came thick and fast during a wild weekend. The race began after an hour and 40-minute delay due to heavy rainfall, and the chaos simply refused to let up once the lights went out. Although Antonelli managed a stellar drive by converting a third-place start into a second-place finish, he admitted the tricky conditions provided a masterclass from his more experienced rivals, particularly during multiple safety car restarts.
"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."
It wasn't just wheel-to-wheel racecraft on slick tyres in a slippery world that caught the youngster's eye. Beyond the immediate on-track sting of being passed, the mental resilience of the field's absolute best left a mark.
"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," Antonelli noted.
