Mercedes loved a powerful weekend on the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, with George Russell taking pole place and conserving Max Verstappen at bay to win, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli transferring up from fourth on the grid to complete third. Whereas he’s had a pole place in a Dash occasion earlier than, it’s the primary time Antonelli has been on the rostrum in his rookie season and he says it makes him hungry for extra.
“It was significantly better than what I imagined,” Antonelli mentioned. “Listening to the gang whereas strolling onto the rostrum, I had huge goosebumps. That’s undoubtedly a second I’ll keep in mind for a really very long time.
“It offers you a lift – outcomes like this and this sense, you’ll be able to’t purchase this sense. It is a tremendous feeling and also you simply need extra. I feel the purpose now could be to attempt to hold the identical momentum and attempt to obtain extra podiums, and hopefully possibly the primary win – you by no means know.”
Previous to that particular second, Antonelli needed to cope with loads of stress as he had the 2 McLarens closing in through the ultimate phases of Sunday’s race, and admits he’d tried to remain too near Verstappen and left himself weak late.
“I used to be simply hoping for the race to complete, to be sincere. I used to be even wanting on the display counting the laps as a result of it was very irritating,” he mentioned. “Within the final stint, I pushed a bit too onerous behind Max and ultimately degraded the entrance left. The previous few laps had been a wrestle, particularly seeing Oscar [Piastri] getting nearer and nearer within the DRS vary. At one level, he even tried to try the overtake in Flip 1. It took a number of effort.”
Antonelli was praised by Russell after the race and the Italian returned the favor, saying his teammate helps him develop and enhance shortly.
“I am nonetheless conscious there’s a number of work to do, particularly in terms of qualifying, attempting to be faster at the start of the session. However we’re on a very good path,” he mentioned. “The group is doing an awesome job. Additionally, with George, he is serving to me to push myself even additional. There is a actually good dynamic within the group. Hopefully, we will carry this momentum into the following few races.”
