Brundle calls Antonelli's Mercedes progress 'quite extraordinary' after three straight wins

Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest driver to lead the Formula 1 championship in his second season with Mercedes, winning three consecutive grands prix in China, Japan and Miami — and his performances are drawing significant praise from within the paddock.

Former F1 driver and analyst Martin Brundle offered a particularly striking assessment of the 19-year-old Italian ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, pointing to the composure Antonelli has shown under pressure as the defining mark of his growth. “He has a strong support structure around him, as do all the drivers in Formula 1 these days,” Brundle said. “They’re very lucky in that respect, but to keep his head and come back and shine. And then we saw Lando hunting him down in Miami, for example. Kimi of last year would probably run off the track somewhere, but this year he’s just rock solid. And that kind of progress at his age is just quite extraordinary.”

Antonelli stepped into one of the most scrutinised seats on the grid in 2025, replacing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. The pressure of that transition made his rookie campaign a difficult one, but his second season has told a markedly different story.

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick echoed Brundle’s view, highlighting both Antonelli’s attitude and his raw pace. “He’s a bit of a young pup in a way, isn’t he? He’s come in with this amazing energy, and I think the team have really enjoyed that, appreciated that,” she said. “But he’s also got the performance, clearly. I think even the fact that he’s half a tenth off George here, at a track George loves, knows well, he’s pushing him so hard and not really making that many mistakes now.”

Chadwick also addressed the broader question that has followed Antonelli since he first emerged as a Mercedes junior prospect. “We spoke about it a lot last year: is he a generational talent or not? I think time will obviously tell, but he’s definitely exceeding my expectations anyway for this season,” she said. “His second year in Formula 1, he started out not many years ago racing, but it’s such a fast-track journey that he’s had. But the fact that he’s got to this point and he’s competing at the level that he’s competing at, with the way Formula 1 is now, which is so complex, is super impressive.”

With three wins in a row and the championship lead, Antonelli heads to Canada as one of the sport’s form drivers — a remarkable turnaround from the uncertainty that surrounded him just twelve months ago.