Kimi Antonelli handed 'pressure' warning following astonishing F1 success

Kimi Antonelli has been warned that the pressure will only increase on his young shoulders as the current F1 season continues after his remarkable start to the campaign.

At the age of 19 years and eight months, Antonelli has taken on the mantle of becoming the youngest drivers' championship leader in F1 history, following back-to-back grand prix wins in China and Japan.

With a third consecutive victory last weekend in Miami to stretch his advantage over Mercedes team-mate George Russell to 20 points, Antonelli became the first driver to win the first three races of his F1 career from pole position.

The teenager is now firmly in the spotlight, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff aware he has to control the hype from getting out of control to protect his driver as the season continues.

Seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya feels the situation will only grow more tense for Antonelli.

"It [his position] is good now, but the hard thing is the pressure is going to build through the year, and it's going to get harder," said Montoya, speaking exclusively to RacingNews365. "But hopefully by then he'll have a gap.

"I think Canada is going to be a big telltale story because, being realistic, I think in China, George should have won.

"In Japan, he was a little quicker than George. And, as well, he had the luck of the safety car, so everything lined up.

"In Miami, he really dominated; he did a good job. I think Lando [Norris] was quicker than him [late in the race] but he couldn't pass him.

"[I am] Surprised a little bit that Mercedes wasn't more aggressive on the strategy, but it's normal racing."

In coping with the inevitable pressure, Montoya feels that a key asset for Antonelli is the strong team around him, especially race engineer Pete Bonnington, who has previously worked with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

With Hamilton, Bonnington was a vital ally in helping the British driver win six of his seven titles with Mercedes, proving to be calm and dependable at vital times. Montoya feels it will be the same with Antonelli. 

"I think his engineering group, Bono and everybody have done it before a lot of times," said Montoya. "They know what it takes, and I think that makes it much easier."