The question heading into Miami wasn’t really whether Kimi Antonelli could win.
A five-week break, the result of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds being cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East, gave the media plenty of runway to debate whether a teenager could hold a championship lead under sustained pressure.
An error-strewn Sprint, in which Antonelli gifted a two-point swing to the slower George Russell by collecting a five-second track limits penalty, seemed to feed this doubt. The question, really, was whether he’d crack when things got even more tough.
Antonelli became the first driver in F1 history to win his first three races from his first three pole positions, doing so after surviving another chaotic start, where he was forced wide to avoid Charles Leclerc before dodging Max Verstappen‘s spinning Red Bull, then fought back through wheel-to-wheel exchanges with Leclerc and Norris while managing potential gearbox issues.
He eventually crossed the line over three seconds clear of Lando Norris, extending his championship lead to 20 points.
It was the F1 Nation podcast where Co-host James Hinchcliffe noted how Antonelli seemed to thrive while under pressure from Norris. “This was incredible pressure from a world champion at a track that’s very easy to make a mistake,” he said. “That small mistake he made in China, that would have been a race ending mistake in Miami. So, you look at how composed he was, at one point, complaining about something with the paddles on the steering wheel. “Maybe the heart rate went up a little bit, certainly the tone of voice went up a little bit, but he kept it calm. Lando behind, meanwhile, his radio transmissions were dead cool. I mean, that’s a champion’s transmission. And you kind of hear what the young driver’s heart rate can do in those moments, but I think for sure the most impressive one so far.” Norris, the reigning world champion, was pushing hard enough to receive track limits warnings and apparently couldn’t find a way through, yet his radio traffic didn’t show any weakness. Antonelli’s didn’t either, not really, despite what amounted to a slightly worried tone when he had gearbox issues. Lawrence Barretto, also on the podcast, said later in the podcast: “I think the quality of the drive that Kimmy delivered here under pressure from the reigning world champion, dealing with those potential technical issues that he had and knowing that actually a big result to George was important, you know, trying to gap him as much as he could on a track where he had an advantage and still making sure that he came out on top was really impressive.” As had been the case in his two prior wins, Antonelli dropped out of the lead early before he worked his way back, executing an undercut that put him wheel-to-wheel with Norris at the pit exit before holding position to the flag. “What Kimi’s doing reminds me of Lewis [Hamilton] in 2007. Even Michael Schumacher in 1991 – remember he gets that one-off opportunity, one race deal at Spa and he goes and lines up seventh on the grid in a Jordan?” Tom Clarkson added. “Just the really good ones are ready, aren’t they when they when they first get behind the wheel.” He now sits 20 points clear at the top of the standings, with McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull all showing enough in Miami to suggest Mercedes won’t have it straightforward from here.This Felt Like Someone Who Knows They’re Going to Win