Kimi Antonelli receives 'boy-man' defence over tearful moment

David Coulthard believes Kimi Antonelli's emotional first grand prix victory could be the precursor to the young Italian becoming "one of the youngest ever world champions".

Coulthard had the privilege of being the first to interview the 19-year-old after he had taken the chequered flag in China, and the second youngest driver - behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen - to win a grand prix.

Antonelli was able to keep himself in check initially before the tears started to flow as he began to appreciate the magnitude of his achievement. Coulthard was touched by what he experienced.

"As an older...I was going to say gentleman, but some people might question that...as an older man, I could feel for him as a young racer," said Coulthard, speaking on the Up to Speed podcast.

"He's only a couple of years older than my son, so in my eyes, I'm looking at a boy. Of course, he's a man, but he's a boy-man in my eyes, and for him to get away [with not crying] at the beginning of the chat, absolutely fine.

"And then I think he caught his father's eye behind the barriers, and I think that's what triggered the tears.

"As you know, when we're doing television, I'm getting someone in my ear saying, 'Move on to George [Russell, who was second]', but it felt to me that that would have lost that moment.

"It was a beautiful moment, because this is someone who's a boy-man, realising his dream of being a grand prix winner, and this could set him on the way towards being one of the youngest ever world champions as well, if he has this continued run, because right now, Mercedes are looking pretty hot."

Another aspect of Antonelli's triumph made 13-time grand prix winner Coulthard reflect on his own journey in F1, and the fact that he had to wait until he was 24 to win his first race in 1995 after making his debut the previous year.

It is a different world, a different generation these days.

"What I find so impressive, and I know it's a few generations after my time, but to do it [win a GP] at 19," assessed Coulthard.

"I first drove a grand prix car. At 19. I got to drive the McLaren Honda of Ayrton Senna as part of a young driver award. I remember coming away from that going, 'Oh, it's just a car'.

"Because when you look at Formula 1 from the outside, you just think it's this spaceship, but actually, it was a great way for me to realise it's just a car.

"But it was a further four years before I entered Formula 1, and by that point, I'm not going to say I was a man, I probably didn't quite get to that until I was about 30, but I won my first grand prix at 24.

"So how they take it in, how they actually understand the world around them...I think it was Arvid Lindblad [Racing Bulls rookie], when he got points in his first grand prix, he said that he's been working for this his whole life.

"I'm thinking, 'His whole life?' My working life is longer than the life he's actually been on planet Earth."