Kimi Antonelli makes Mercedes demand after 'flipped' shock

Kimi Antonelli has urged Mercedes to maintain their relentless development push after McLaren's significant upgrade package at the Miami Grand Prix threatened to upset the order at the front of the grid.

The 19-year-old secured his third consecutive pole position and victory in Florida, but was left wary by the performance leap demonstrated by McLaren's latest technical package, which marked a stark contrast to the opening three rounds.

Lando Norris took sprint pole in the Sunshine State, and the constructors' champions took a 1-2 in the one-third distance race, with Oscar Piastri finishing second. The former also pushed Antonelli all the way in the grand prix.

Speaking after his strong performance at the Miami International Autodrome, the young Italian insisted the Brackley-based team cannot afford complacency despite its strong start to the campaign.

"I have really good confidence in the car," Antonelli told media, including RacingNews365, of the W17.

"Obviously, we're in a great momentum. Hopefully, the package is going to work as we hope, but also McLaren is bringing another package, and the step they made [in Miami] was very big.

"So, we just have to keep pushing, keep raising that bar, because we saw this weekend how much it flipped compared to the first three races. So, we just got to stay on top of the game."

Historic double achievement

Antonelli's Miami triumph saw him match two pieces of Formula 1 history simultaneously, joining rarefied company in the championship's record books.

The Mercedes driver became the first in F1 history to convert his first three pole positions into victories, whilst also matching Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher as only the third driver to claim three consecutive poles from the start of their career. Separately, only Damon Hill and Mika Häkkinen had previously secured their first three wins consecutively.

When informed of the statistical achievement, the Italian appeared unfazed, instead underlining his focus on the fight ahead, with Mercedes bringing more comprehensive upgrades to Montreal.

"Oh, I didn't know," Antonelli replied. "I mean, it's cool. It's a cool stat, but don't really want to think too much about it.

"I'm just going to enjoy the moment, but I know at the same time that we're just going to get back to work early because obviously we have another break, let's say, which is not ideal.

"But yeah, just going to try to prepare Canada the best way as possible in order to be back even stronger. But yeah, it's cool, I guess."