Kimi Antonelli crushed in Japan and is the youngest leader in F1 history

The Mercedes gem began to bear fruit: he signed his second consecutive victory, ended a streak of 73 years without Italians stringing successes in a row and left Suzuka as leader of the World Championship.

When Marco Antonelli was born in 1964, it had already been 11 years since an Italian had won two in a row in Formula 1. The last had been Alberto Ascari, the only Italian F1 champion by the way, when he won consecutively in the Grand Prix of the Netherlands and Belgium in the 1953 season. Marco, passionate about motorsports and driver, was never able to celebrate two successes in a row for a compatriot in the highest category of motorsport. But the streak was cut 73 years later thanks to his son, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who won the Japanese GP in a landslide.

Antonelli has all the ingredients to become an idol. Charismatic, with that special Latin touch, friendly and human, so much so that he cried like a child in China after achieving his first victory. It’s just a boy: he’s 19 years old and he’s just finished school, because he promised his mother. It was the condition, a track with studies, there was no other option. If triumphs are added to all this, the path to idolatry will not know any obstacles.

Kimi didn’t have it easy. After taking pole position on Saturday in Suzuka, everything got complicated at the start of the race because he almost stopped. His rear tires slipped, his power unit didn’t charge well and he dropped to sixth place. The important thing was that he did not despair. He took a deep breath and went for recovery.

TOntonelli overtook Lewis Hamilton on the second lap, precisely the driver he replaced at Mercedes. In lap 12 he passed the champion, Lando Norris and four laps later he went for Charles Leclerc. The rhythm of the Bolognese was impressive. Ahead were Oscar Piastri, leader from the start, and George Russell, his teammate in the Silver Arrows. And the stroke of luck arrived. Because the Australian stopped on lap 19 and Russell on lap 22. As soon as the Englishman returned to the track, Oliver Bearaman’s tremendous accident occurred, which forced the entry of the safety car. And the fight ended: Antonelli stopped as leader, went back forward and headed towards success.

Before the relaunch, with Antonelli followed by Piastri and Russell, the unusual radio message arrived from the Englishman asking that the Italian return his position. The request was unprecedented for the British, who, to begin with, had to pass the Australian from McLaren. To make matters worse, he even lost to Norris. Russell was out of the fight, like everyone else, because Kimi set an overwhelming pace and took the lead to win with a 13-second advantage over Piastri.

“In the race I had a terrible start, I just need to review what happened, but then I was lucky with the safety car to get ahead and the pace was incredible. It was a really good second stint. I felt very good with the car and I’m very satisfied with that,” said Antonell.i, who warned that he will use the April break (the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were cancelled) to work on the clutch and avoid a repeat of the Suzuka start.

With his victory, the young Mercedes driver jumped to the top of the World Championship and became the youngest leader in history. Another mark for the Italian, who could now think about ending a drought of 73 years without titles by an Italian, since Ascari, the same one who had been the last to string together two successes. In fact, Ascari is the only Italian driver who was champion, incredibly in a country that has none other than Ferrari, the only team with a perfect presence in all seasons. But Antonelli puts cold words: “I feel very good, but it is too early to think about the championship, but we are on the right track.”