Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑11 Aug 2024, 10:14
Wouter wrote:Antonelli exclusive on his meteoric rise to F1: "I'm not afraid of being judged"
In his first major interview, Andrea Kimi Antonelli talks to Motorsport.com about his rapid rise through the ranks and
the prospect of succeeding Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/the- ... /10643093/
The kid is going to have a hard time pairing alongside Russell and then perhaps with Verstappen and f the car is a winning/championship machine, oh boy. It's way more brutal than what rookie-Hamilton or rookie-Verstappen faced. Hamilton got straight into a winning car alongside a brutal teammate Alonso, but Hamilton was mature and had well-prepaired six years in single-seaters and no testing limit before the season. Verstappen was a child with one year of experience in single-seaters, but his car was a midfielder and his teammate was also a rookie.
I have to disagree (politely) with you there. Russell is a two time race winner. Alonso was a sitting double world champion who was in his prime. Testing limits and more time in single seaters helped, but testing is not racing and talent is talent. No one unbiased really believes Hamilton only did well because he got to test more than current drivers do. Arguably, cars then were harder to drive and took more skill anyway if you listen to guys like Alonso who drove both. Anyway, that's getting too deep into the weeds.
Verstappen had a season in a midfielder car, but he instantly performed the moment stepped into a car with winning potential. How much time did he have in that car? Not much, if any. That's what the best drivers do and have always done - they perform from day 1. Heck, look at Bearman and what he did on a super difficult circuit with next to no time in the Ferrari.
My point is, IF Kimi is really the next Verstappen/Hamilton/Schumi/Senna, he'll match or beat Russell. Maybe not on race 1 or even race 5, but he'll be there. If he's overhyped, then we'll know that, too. A generational talent isn't going to get brutalized by ... George Russell.
Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.