{"id":539958,"date":"2026-03-16T10:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T10:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/539958\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T10:53:07","slug":"antonelli-and-verstappen-a-special-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/539958\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonelli and Verstappen: A Special Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(GMM) Max Verstappen\u2019s gloom after another painful grand prix in 2026 lifted briefly in Shanghai when the conversation turned to Kimi Antonelli\u2019s (pictured) maiden pole and Formula 1 victory \u2013 the two drivers sharing a friendship that extends well beyond the pitlane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are of course very beautiful moments,\u201d Verstappen said of first poles and wins, when asked about 19-year-old Antonelli\u2019s breakthroughs by <a href=\"https:\/\/viaplay.com\/nl-nl\/sport\/motorsport\/formula-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Viaplay<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy for him. I think there\u2019s pressure falling off your shoulders when you win your first race. This will certainly not be the last.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The boy-faced Italian Antonelli, tearful on the podium on Sunday, has struck up a genuine rapport with the four-time world champion. Verstappen said Antonelli approaches him several times each race weekend with questions \u2013 though not always about Formula 1.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-474638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/antonelli-podium1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\"\/>Chinese Grand Prix, Sunday, KIMI ANTONELLI Andrea (ita), Mercedes AMG F1 Team W16, portrait celebrating victory on the podium during the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2026, 2nd round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship from March 13 to 15, 2026 on the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China \u2013 Photo Florent Gooden \/ DPPI for Mercedes<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s also very excited about the GT3 program,\u201d Verstappen smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Antonelli, whose father runs his own GT team, has apparently set his sights on sharing a car with Verstappen \u2013 in a Mercedes, with Red Bull stickers. \u201cHe really wants to race together,\u201d Verstappen grinned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see in the future. He must focus on Formula 1 for now. That car\u2019s going like a bullet, so he can win a lot this season. We still have plenty of time to do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen himself will not wait long for his next racing fix. With the cancelled Gulf races also opening up other opportunities, he now heads straight to the Nordschleife before Suzuka, for an NLS race that was specially rescheduled to accommodate him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nuerburgring.de\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Nordschleife<\/a> on Thursday night,\u201d he beamed. \u201cOn Friday we\u2019ll test. We want to try some things, and I want to get up to speed with that car myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the race we want to gain experience and put the car in as good a window as possible for the 24-hour race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He ended the interview with characteristic efficiency. \u201cNow (I go) quickly home!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(GMM) Max Verstappen\u2019s gloom after another painful grand prix in 2026 lifted briefly in Shanghai when the conversation&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-539958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}