Kimi Antonelli in Monza paddock @RacePictures

Antonelli finds the ultimate benchmark in F1: 'He's extremely fast'

12:22, 06 Oct

byLuke-John Buckle

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is starting to see an upturn in form at Mercedes with a fifth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Italian driver explained how teammate George Russell is pushing him in Formula 1.

"Every time I learn a lot from him, and especially when I go to new tracks."

- Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli said in Singapore that Russell is a incredibly quick driver who can be on the pace early in the weekend.

The Mercedes driver said: "The good thing is that we're pushing each other quite a lot. Every time I learn a lot from him, and especially when I go to new tracks, because he's extremely fast.

"He's always very early on the limit, so I can always learn a lot from him, and this weekend we've been pushing each other, and I would have liked to be there with him at the end of the session, which was really good."

Kimi Antonelli at the Mercedes garage in Singapore. Photo: Race Pictures.

Antonelli qualified fourth on the grid and finished the Singapore Grand Prix in fifth place as teammate Russell took victory.

This is his second top-five finish in a row after the drive to fourth position in Azerbaijan. Antonelli has stepped up since the European leg ended, finishing in the top five twice.

Antonelli explained that he felt more pressure in Europe as the 19-year-old was racing on tracks he was familiar with.

He added: "Certainly, you know, in the European period there have been many factors that, you know, I had more pressure than myself in general, because I was in circuit that I knew, and certainly that new suspension has been hard and has lost a lot of confidence.

"So it was a difficult period, but since From Monza's qualifiers, I started to find the feeling and now we are in a positive trend and we will try to maintain it."

Antonelli's upturn in form is helping Mercedes in the standings

Mercedes have been locked in a fierce battle with Ferrari for second in the Constructors' Championship. They now lead their Italian rivals by 25 points.

Antonelli's fifth-place finish, combined with Russell's victory, has helped Mercedes hold the advantage as the British press highlighted.

By contrast, Ferrari endured a difficult day with Charles Leclerc finishing in sixth and Lewis Hamilton in eighth place amid brake issues.

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