Kimi Antonelli “totally different” to teenage Max Verstappen’s rise

Andrea Kimi Antonelli does not have key similarities to a young Max Verstappen, it has been claimed.

Teenage Antonelli’s impressive start to his rookie season with Mercedes has been compared by some to when Verstappen got his break, aged 17.

There are obvious discrepancies - none more so than Antonelli running in a competitive Mercedes, while Verstappen got started in a Toro Rosso.

However, the personality traits that Verstappen demonstrated in his early days also mark him out as different, it has been suggested.

Kimi Antonelli compared to Max Verstappen

“For me, it’s totally different,” L’Equipe journalist Fred Ferret told the F1 Nation podcast when comparing Antonelli to Verstappen.

“We saw Max coming from a long time. Especially when you are French because he was in a battle with Esteban Ocon, which Esteban won because he crashed less than Max.

“But in the first test at Suzuka in 2014, in a press conference, he was surprised by questions about how young he was.

“He looked at us like: “It’s a car… you think I can’t drive a car?”

“When you see Kimi going through the paddock, he’s not like that.”

Antonelli has been likened more to the early days of Lewis Hamilton - who he eventually replaced at Mercedes this year.

“I would compare it to Lewis in 2007,” Ferret claimed.

“What McLaren did with him looks the same as Mercedes and Kimi.

“You won’t see Kimi doing the same mistakes as Max did at the start of his career.

“He has been nurtured, and there are a lot of people taking care of him.

“Toto Wolff is keeping his head down.”

Antonelli was famously taken around the F1 media centre at his debut to personally greet journalists and reporters.

Mercedes’ handling of their young and dynamic talent has been lauded, ever since team principal Wolff boldly chose him to replace Hamilton.

His pace has stood out in the first six F1 grands prix of the year, but his standout moment came last weekend when he grabbed pole position for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

Antonelli has finished inside the top 10 at five out of six grands prix this season so far.