Kimi Antonelli says he hopes to be able to "play" with his Mercedes going forward after a breakthrough aided him in setting two F1 records at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Antonelli finished sixth at Suzuka for a third straight points haul to start his career, and is placed fifth in the drivers' with 30 points after following home team-mate George Russell.
Between laps 21-31, Antonelli also led the Japanese GP as he stayed out on the medium tyres, thus becoming the youngest-ever driver to lead a world championship grand prix, eclipsing Max Verstappen's record of 18 years, 227 days by four days from the 2016 Spanish GP.
Furthermore, Antonelli also became the youngest-ever driver to set a fastest lap, again taking the record from Verstappen - who does retain his youngest-ever win and podium finisher records, with the Suzuka event being Antonelli's last opportunity to snatch those away.
The Italian - the first to lead a race since Antonio Giovinazzi at the 2019 Singapore GP - reflected on his race by explaining how a "big click" in qualifying had transformed his understanding of the W16 and added that he was hopeful of "playing" with the car over the coming races.
"I am much happier, it was much better than China, and we showed some good pace and consistency, but the first 15 laps were a bit of a struggle, but once I got in free air, the pace improved," Antonelli told media including RacingNews365.
"Qualifying was a big click because I was more able to feel the car and push it, and today was another step forward.
"I am really looking forward to exploring even more in the next few weekends, because now I have the feeling that I can play with the car, which is something I couldn't really do in the previous weekends because I was definitely tense whilst driving.
"I'm getting more experience with the tyres and the car itself, so I am able to feel it more.
"The plan was different, it was to stop earlier, but as the pace was improving lap-by-lap, we decided to stay out because we had not threat from behind and just tried something different.
"I'm not going to lie, at one point on the mediums, it started drizzling and I was hoping for some rain, but it didn't come. But at the same time, I cannot complain because it was a good experience."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they reflect on the Japanese Grand Prix and look ahead to Bahrain. Max Verstappen's victory is a major talking point, as is McLaren's serious strategical weakness. Jack Doohan's struggles is also discussed.
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