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Antonelli’s father sees Verstappen a step above the rest

by sports••0
Antonelli’s father sees Verstappen a step above the rest
From Kimi Antonelli’s father, Marco, praising Max Verstappen to multiple Formula 1 teams handing out FP1 opportunities to rookies in Barcelona, GPblog brings you the best news of the day.

Antonelli’s dad insists Verstappen is ‘on another level’ to son Kimi right now

Marco Antonelli, the father of Kimi, believes that Max Verstappen is still on a different level at the moment. Speaking to Formule 1 Magazine, the Italian explained: “Max is a nice guy with a friendly character. He is also a friend of ours. We both also run a Mercedes GT3 team. But it is still too early to compare Kimi with Max. Of course, there is a clear similarity: they are both fast. On his own, Max is already a four-time world champion, while Kimi still has a long way to go to achieve what Max has already achieved. I hope he comes close to that one day, but at this stage of his career, Max is mainly an example for him.”

He continued: “It’s nice to see that they have a good relationship. Max and Kimi speak to each other almost every weekend. At the same time, it is clear that Max is on another level as a driver at the moment.”

Multiple rookies handed FP1 opportunities for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

While teams would like to relax the rookie regulations for this year due to the changes to the Formula 1 calendar, a total of three drivers were announced today to take part in the first free practice session of the day this weekend.
Luke Browning will drive Alexander Albon’s Williams (and also Carlos Sainz’s car in Austria), Frederik Vesti will replace the current championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, while Leonardo Fornaroli will sit in Lando Norris’ MCL40 on Friday.

Photo: McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

Former F2 champion Fornaroli said: “It’s also a very special milestone for me personally, as it will be my first official Formula 1 session. It’s something I’ve worked towards for a long time, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to take this next step with McLaren Racing.

“The experience I’ve gained so far this year through the multiple Testing of Previous Cars events I’ve successfully completed has been so valuable for my development and overall learning of driving a Formula 1 car. Thank you to Zak, Andrea and Alessandro for their continued support and I can’t wait to get in the car on Friday,” he concluded.

Verstappen hopes Red Bull changes fix RB22’s Barcelona ‘weak point’

The four-time world champion enjoys the Barcelona track, but highlights that lifting and coasting will once again be visible when looking ahead to the next race. He said to GPblog, among others: “It’s a great track. I always like driving there, even though, of course, I think even this year we’ll be lifting and coasting. That’s a bit painful, but I just hope that our car will be performing well. I’m not expecting it exactly like it was here [in Monaco] to fight maybe for the front row, but maybe I can be surprised again.”

The Dutchman added: “[It’s important to get back to] the high-speed tracks, yeah, to see what we can do there. We’ve been quick on low-speed tracks with not too many high-speed corners, which I know has been, from what I’ve seen so far this year, a bit our weak point. So I hope with the change that we make to the car, it will be better, but I don’t know, of course, how much.”