Kimi Antonelli sends rivals clear message after major Miami breakthrough

Kimi Antonelli is hopeful he can perform at even higher level at the upcoming F1 rounds from his impressive weekend in Miami.

The Mercedes rookie starred to pole position for the sprint race last weekend, becoming the youngest pole-sitter in any F1 format.

After bagging third in the sprint race, he qualified in third for the grand prix but struggled for pace in the main event, dropping to sixth at the chequered flag.

It nevertheless marked a significant weekend for the 18-year-old who was able to consistently mix it up with the usual front-runners.

Antonelli revealed that taking advantage of the break after the triple header allowed him to make the visible improvements for Miami.

“I did FP1 and I felt good and I was able to push the car more to the limit. I think that is down a lot to also experience and confidence,” Antonelli told media including RacingNews365.

“I think also having a week break after a triple-header was really helpful as well for myself to gather all the information.

“So definitely a lot of experience, also understanding how to extract more out of the tyre during the whole lap—something I haven’t been doing well during the season.”

With F1 entering the European leg of the season and visiting a series of tracks Antonelli is familiar with, the Italian is keen to take another step at the coming rounds.

“There's still room for improvement, but I feel better and better in the car every weekend.

“So hopefully after this weekend, we're going to European tracks, tracks that I know well, and hopefully I can maintain the same pace or even go faster.”