{"id":546240,"date":"2026-03-19T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:00:11","slug":"antonelli-blown-away-by-hamiltons-massive-backing-after-maiden-f1-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546240\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonelli blown away by Hamilton\u2019s massive backing after maiden F1 win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/f1-drivers\/kimi-antonelli\" title=\"Kimi Antonelli\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kimi Antonelli<\/a> publicly thanked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/f1-drivers\/lewis-hamilton\" title=\"Lewis Hamilton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lewis Hamilton<\/a> for the support he showed following the Italian\u2019s first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/formula-1\" title=\"Formula 1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a> victory in China.\u201cYes, honestly I think that\u2019s the photo of the year, the one with Lewis\u201d- Kimi Antonelli<\/p>\n<p>The seven-time world champion heaped praise on the young Italian driver after his victory, which put Italy back on the top step of the podium for the first time in twenty years, even sharing an Instagram post featuring a selfie the two took together during the press conference.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Italian media upon returning from the Shanghai trip, Antonelli was keen to return the kind words towards the Briton: \u201cHonestly I think that\u2019s the photo of the year, the one with Lewis. First of all, it was the enthusiasm he showed towards me after the victory. It was really nice of him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has always supported me, ever since he moved to Ferrari and I joined Mercedes, so we have a really great relationship. It\u2019s special, especially with a champion like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260315-0532-69b6d73ce0964.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"antonelli-hamilton-russell-china-jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photo: Race Pictures<\/p>\n<p>Russell warned after Antonelli\u2019s first win: \u2018He has a lot less to smile about\u2019In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/news\/russell-warned-after-antonellis-first-win-he-has-a-lot-less-to-smile-about\/preview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Riccardo Patrese suggested Russell now has far more to think about following Antonelli\u2019s breakthrough performance. <\/a>According to the former driver, the Briton has considerably less reason to feel comfortable after what unfolded over the weekend, and may now start asking himself a few difficult questions.<\/p>\n<p>Patrese pointed out that while Russell had always known Antonelli was talented, he might not have expected the young Italian to produce such a commanding display so early in his career.<\/p>\n<p>Antonelli\u2019s race in China stood out for its composure and control, as he avoided mistakes, managed his tyres effectively and kept the situation firmly under control. The way he handled the race also hinted that he still had extra pace in reserve, even if Russell had managed to close the gap &#8211; something that, in Patrese\u2019s view, could leave the Mercedes driver slightly concerned moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli publicly thanked Lewis Hamilton for the support he showed following the Italian\u2019s first Formula 1 victory&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,116179,578,28673,576,577,25251,932,130550,82],"class_list":["post-546240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chinese-grand-prix","tag-f1","tag-f1-news","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-mercedes-amg-f1-team","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546240","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=546240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}