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19-year-old Antonelli currently leads the more experienced Russell by nine points after the first three rounds, but is adamant he only focused on himself, not the Drivers’ standings,
Speaking to media post-Japan, Antonelli said: “No, I’m not worrying about that, to be fair. I’m just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, trying to get everything right in terms of procedure, starts, driving. I know how strong George is and for sure it’s going to be very hard.“
Meanwhile, the young Italian has also backed up team principal Toto Wolff’s belief that rivals could start to circle the Silver Arrows, after Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur said a ‘new championship’ could begin at the next race in Miami.
Antonelli said: “I think Ferrari and McLaren, they will get closer, so it’s going to be important to stay on top of the game, as I said before, keep raising the bar.”
“But I’m not focusing on or worrying about this at the moment. Just obviously happy with how things went today, and yeah, just going to try to make the best out of the break and trying to see how I can improve those areas in order to be back stronger.”
Elsewhere, GPblog has learned that F1 are currently pleased with the new regulations and the racing it has served up, after a fan poll judged racing more positively compared to the situation a year ago.