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09/14/26 10:49:00
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09/14 05:37 CDT Kimi Antonelli tries to stay grounded despite another win and
big lead in F1 championship race
Kimi Antonelli tries to stay grounded despite another win and big lead in F1
championship race
By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer
MADRID (AP) --- By now, even Kimi Antonelli's closest rival is conceding that
the race for the Formula 1 title is pretty much over.
Antonelli won his eighth race of the season --- and second in a row --- at
Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, extending his championship lead to 81 points with
nine races remaining.
The 20-year-old Italian, the youngest ever to lead the F1 championship, doesn't
want to get too far ahead of himself, though.
"It's great, but we've just got to keep pushing, keep delivering the results
and, you know, just trying to do the best job I can whenever I go on track," he
said. "Of course, yes, I have a big lead, but you never know what can happen.
So just need to be ready for anything and keep maximizing every opportunity I
get, and then we'll see where we end up at the end of the year."
His Mercedes teammate, George Russell, hinted he already knows the outcome.
"Realistically, I'm not in the fight for the drivers' (championship), and that
just allows me to focus race by race and try to get some good results."
Lewis Hamilton, third in the championship, dropped 101 points behind Antonelli
after not finishing on Sunday because of a brake failure.
Russell was fifth on Sunday. He had already said earlier in the weekend that
Antonelli "has done a better job" than him this season and "deserves to be
leading" the championship.
Antonelli doesn't like the rhetoric that the title race is over and that he can
start taking a more conservative approach.
"That's exactly what I don't want to do," he said. "I want to keep pushing race
by race, keep delivering and keep enjoying all the way, and trying to do my
best every race. And then we'll see where we end up."
Praise from former champions
Antonelli won Sunday ahead of former champions Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Both rivals praised his performance this season and weighed in on how he may
possibly manage his emotions and the pressure of having a big points lead.
"Kimi just needs to do what he's doing," Verstappen said. "I mean, it's
fantastic, so it's working really well. He should not stress about it too much,
which I don't think he is. He's just delivering, he's confident, he's getting
more and more experience. He's still young, he's still very early in his
career, but he's flying and it's just working."
Verstappen said Antonelli "shouldn't overcomplicate things" and "he's not doing
that."
"He has a lot of good people around him that know what he needs. So, it's all
working well," the four-time world champion from Red Bull said.
Norris, who won his first title last year with McLaren, said Antonelli has
"been impressive since the first race this year."
"You know, he's beating a much more experienced teammate, and a decent
teammate, so I don't want to give him any advice because he's doing a scarily
good job," Norris said. "It's cool to see someone so young doing such an
incredible job and more than likely go on and win the championship. He's just
not driving like it's his second year in F1, that's for sure."
Antonelli, who is looking to become the youngest F1 champion, credited the
support of the team and his family.
"I'm lucky to have really good people around me," he said. "I have an
incredible team that supports me, great family. Especially my dad is the one
that keeps me on the ground. You know, especially when he sees that, you know,
I might lose a little bit the way.
"On my side, as I said many times, I just try to do my best every race, trying
to really drive as fast as I can whenever I go in the car," Antonelli added.
"And then we'll see where we end up at the end of the year. But definitely I
don't want to overcomplicate things or, you know, just drive worrying about
championship or result. Just driving, doing my best."
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