Kimi Antonelli secured his best F1 result to date with a hard-fought second place at the São Paulo GP, holding off a charging Max Verstappen in a tense finale at Interlagos.
The young Italian driver delivered a composed performance under immense pressure, managing to keep the four-time world champion at bay in the closing laps as Verstappen hunted him down on fresher tyres. Antonelli crossed the line just three-tenths of a second ahead of the Red Bull driver, marking a significant milestone in his fledgling F1 career.
Nerve-wracking final stint
The closing stages of the race proved to be a stern examination of Antonelli’s racecraft. When Verstappen made his third pit stop for soft tyres with 10 laps remaining, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the Mercedes youngster.
“Way too stressful,” Antonelli admitted when asked about those final laps. “I mean, obviously, when Max did the last pit stop and Bono told me the gap, I was like—ah well, I cannot say because they’re going to fine me now—but I was like, ‘I might be in trouble,’ you know, because he was just nine seconds behind.”
The challenge was formidable. Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres and displaying the strong pace that had characterised his recovery drive from a pitlane start, was gaining rapidly. Antonelli had to extract every ounce of performance from his ageing rubber.
“Obviously, he was on new Softs, so he had… I think this race he had very strong pace. He did an amazing job coming back and he just put me under a lot of pressure at the end,” Antonelli explained. “I had to really push the tyre to the limit, and it wasn’t easy. But I think we did our best and I’m really happy with that.”
Early chaos and fortune
Antonelli’s path to the podium was far from straightforward. The race’s complexion changed dramatically on lap six when chaos erupted at the restart following the safety car. Oscar Piastri’s attempted overtake into Turn 1 triggered a chain reaction that left Antonelli in the middle of a sandwich.
“Well, first of all, the restart—I accelerated a little bit on the wet patch, so I got wheelspin and lost momentum going into Turn 1,” Antonelli recounted. “But to be fair, I found myself in a very difficult position because I had one car on the outside and one car on the inside. I tried to brake late, not too late. The problem is I didn’t see the car next to me anymore. I still tried to do a decent line for the position I was in.”
The incident had severe consequences for Charles Leclerc, whose Ferrari sustained terminal suspension damage. Antonelli was fortunate to escape with only minor damage.
“Yeah, ended up getting hit. I was lucky to come away like that, because obviously I hit quite hard Charles. Unfortunately, I ended his race, but on my side, I was lucky to come away with not such a big damage,” he said. “I had a minor damage on the car. I think the steering wheel was not fully straight, but I was very lucky to come away with it and to be able to continue my race.”
Despite the crooked steering wheel, Antonelli put in a recovery drive that saw him carve through the field with impressive overtakes, including moves on Nico Hülkenberg and Liam Lawson in the latter stages.
Growing confidence
This performance at Interlagos represents the culmination of steady progress for Antonelli. After a challenging start to his F1 career, the Italian has found his rhythm in recent races.
“Definitely. I’ve had a good run so far, a couple of strong races, and this weekend was the weekend where we put things more together—which is what I need to do, especially for the team,” Antonelli reflected. “So yeah, I’ve been enjoying a lot this weekend and looking forward to the next ones.”
The F1 São Paulo GP presented unique challenges for Antonelli, who was experiencing the historic Interlagos circuit for the first time. The track’s characteristics—elevation changes, banking, and varying camber—demanded quick adaptation with limited running.
“I mean, the track is good fun. A lot of elevation change—not easy, especially with the banking. Some corners also have positive camber, so you just need to really understand the line you have to take in order to maximise every corner,” he explained. “I think it’s been really good fun driving around here—challenging, especially to be up to the pace with only one session. But I think on that side, we did the best. On my side, I tried to learn as much as possible every session in order to improve for the next one.”
The atmosphere at Interlagos clearly left an impression on the young driver. “The support here has been incredible, and it’s been one of the most special weekends so far,” Antonelli said.
Eyes on the future
As the 2025 season enters its final phase, Antonelli’s podium finish in Brazil provides a significant boost to both his confidence and his standing within the Mercedes team. His ability to hold off a driver of Verstappen’s calibre under intense pressure demonstrates the maturity and racecraft that many have long predicted would emerge.
With Lando Norris taking victory for McLaren ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen, the F1 São Paulo GP delivered the kind of multi-faceted battle that modern F1 craves. For Antonelli, however, this result represents more than just a strong points haul—it’s validation that he belongs at motorsport’s highest level.
