Max Verstappen praises Kimi Antonelli after "impressive" rookie F1 season

Max Verstappen has been full of praise for Formula 1 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli after an “impressive” run of form for the Mercedes driver.

The 19-year-old has endured a very up-and-down 2025, which began with five points finishes in six, as well as a sprint pole in Miami.

But he followed that up with just one points score - third in Canada - in seven races, before continuing his inconsistency by showing promise amid needless mistakes like going off in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Antonelli has picked it up towards the end of the year though, as he has been on the podium in his last three races with second in both the Brazil sprint and grand prix, plus third in Vegas.

Last weekend’s Las Vegas GP even featured a brilliant recovery drive from Antonelli, who crossed the line in fourth despite starting 17th. He then dropped to fifth due to a five-second penalty for jumping the start, before climbing to third thanks to a double McLaren disqualification.

After the race, he was caught speaking to winner Verstappen, who laughed and put his thumb up after Antonelli informed the four-time world champion of his finishing position.

Verstappen was asked about that moment ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, plus Antonelli’s season in general, saying: “Yeah, very good. I was of course doing my own race and it was always just between myself, Lando [Norris] and George [Russell for Vegas victory], so I didn't really pay a lot of attention to what was happening behind that.

“But when he told me that, I was like ‘wow, that's really good’ and then of course I saw also the way that he did it to keep the tyres alive. I think he did an incredible stint even compared to George in the same car.

“So he's been performing really well and he's been performing really well on tracks that he didn't know. So that's even more impressive I would say.

“And it's something that I personally wasn't too surprised about that he would do. I think you just need to let it happen. Don't over drive or force it too much and maybe that was happening earlier in the season.

“I'm happy for him. It's great to see and I hope that it can continue in that way.”

There are similarities between Verstappen and Antonelli, as both were fast-tracked to F1 as teenagers before displaying sublime raw pace that was perhaps masked by various mistakes.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

So that is perhaps a reason why Verstappen has often put his arm around Antonelli in the tough moments, like the Austrian GP when the rookie crashed into the Red Bull driver on lap one.

But they did have a better battle in Sao Paulo where Verstappen applied late pressure on Antonelli, only for the Italian, who is seventh in the championship, to withstand the attack.

“Brazil, yeah good,” said Verstappen of the fight. “Of course I was pushing as hard as I could to get by, tried to put him under pressure, but unfortunately I would say one lap short.

“That's how racing is, right? You cannot say that an extra lap is needed. But again that was a very strong performance from his side."

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