![\"Nov](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/981b709a21c52f8c4fcadca0040cc24a.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nMercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli was expected to finish high in the Drivers\u2019 Championship standings given the team\u2019s strength, though he was largely discounted as a title threat.<\/p>\n
For a teenager stepping into F1, Antonelli shone for the part in 2025, though he ended up quite far off George Russell\u2019s pace in aggregate.<\/p>\n
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With such a pronounced gap in speed, the Mercedes driver was looking to just make another step forward rather than outright challenge Russell\u2019s status as the fastest driver on the team.<\/p>\n
However, after a handful of races into the season, Antonelli has won back-to-back races and stands as the title leader, looking quite up for the challenge against Russell.<\/p>\n
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Nov 21, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli (12) is introduced before the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
His last win out in Japan did come with a bit of safety-car luck, but on the whole, Antonelli\u2019s results have been a showcase of his true pace, according to Sky Sports analyst Karun Chandhok.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the fastest throughout practice. The only mistake he made was a terrible start. He had a slice of luck with the safety car that allowed him to recover it, but his pace all weekend was outstanding,\u201d Chandhok said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe had two or three tenths on George all the way through. So based on that form, he is absolutely in a position to win the championship. I\u2019m sure George will have other things to say about it, but I think the short answer is he can. I don\u2019t know if he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why is it too early to judge Antonelli\u2019s hot start?<\/p>\n
Antonelli will be facing an ever-changing sport, with new regulations already being released to address some of the early issues with the engine formula.<\/p>\n
Fans of the sport are notably complaining about the engine\u2019s power and the quality of the races, which could push for further changes in the sport.<\/p>\n
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As it evolves, the car beneath Antonelli could change quickly, something his teammate has much more experience with.<\/p>\n
Also, Russell has gone through notable hiccups during this part of the year, but on the whole, he looks to be in a real position to win the championship.<\/p>\n
The Brit is the team leader and holds a high status, which means Antonelli will need to be ready for a fight.<\/p>\n
The road is long for the young sensation, but if Mercedes keeps their dominant status, Antonelli will have every chance to take home the crown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli was expected to finish high in the Drivers\u2019 Championship standings given the team\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[16007,49,48,578,576,577,3024,3780,25251,1483,82],"class_list":["post-638405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-antonelli","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-karun-chandhok","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-las-vegas","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638405","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=638405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}