Kimi Antonelli, F1 leader: “Red Bull is now the team to beat. They have taken an incredible step forward, and Verstappen has also felt more comfortable with the car and has gotten more out of it”
Kimi Antonelli He has everything to win his first F1 title in the coming races. He took advantage of the fact that he had the dominant car for most of the season to beat his teammate with great performance and a lot of consistency and in the next race of Austin will now have his first chance to win the crown at the age of 20, in his second year in F1, with Mercedes.
However, Kimi alert of the enormous improvement of Red Bull and Max Verstappen since they introduced their Baku evolution packageand that too It is very relevant for 2027.
It is important because Red Bull makes it clear with this improvement that it is on the right path to fight from the start of the 2027 World Cup with Max Verstappen for the title. And on the other hand, Mercedes arrives at the end of this year with a package of evolutions released in Sepang that has left many doubts. The combination of both factors makes Kimi agree with his teammate Russell in placing Max and Red Bull as favorites in the six remaining races.
While, Mercedes will have to understand its problems with its new package and make sure that nothing fails in the face of the evolution of the 2027 car. Therein lies one of the main keys for next year.
“Is Red Bull the team to beat?” he was asked at the press conference after the F1 Singapore GP.
“I think so, probably It is mainly due to the fact that we are not managing to extract the maximum performance of the new package. Of course, Red Bull has taken an incredible step forward, but Max has also probably felt more comfortable with the car and has managed to get more out of it. So it’s a combination of factors,” said Kimi.
The problem is that, right now, the car’s operating window is very narrow and it is very sensitive to the way you drive, how you take corners and how you brake. Reacts in very different ways
“But, without a doubt, they (Red Bull) have made a lot of progress. For our part, we are trying to understand how to extract more potential (from the new aero package), because we see the gains and we know what the package can offer us. The problem is that, right now, the car’s operating window is very narrow and it is very sensitive to the way you drive, how you take corners and how you brake. “He reacts in very different ways,” said the Italian.
But, without a doubt, they (Red Bull) have made a lot of progress. For our part, we are trying to understand how to extract more potential
“Let’s hope that in austinwhere we will have three free training sessions, “We can test different setup options with an open mind and find a solution that allows us to take advantage of the full potential of the package and finally see those improvements reflected in performance.”expressed Antonelli, pointing towards the next F1 race at the Circuit of The Americas.
“I think the team did an incredible job this weekend getting the car in a better situation and giving me more confidence. Now we have a base on which to continue working and from which to extract more and more powerl”, he noted after a weekend in which he started 7 tenths off the sprint pole, and went on to stay just over a tenth off the pole on Saturday, managing to minimize damage with a good third position in the race with error-free and very intelligent driving.
