With 15 laps to go in the Austrian GP, it takes half a second per lap to go and catch Russel. With fresh tires Kimi Antonelli puts in faster laps and, after the three initial errors, sins of impetuosity, which caused him to be “cut” three times in the first lap without the race officials recognizing any reasons for penalties, he confirms himself as the most complicated opponent for his teammate Russel. The end of the Formula 1 World Championship is very long away, but there are all the conditions for the 2026 season, fun and spectacular as rarely in recent years, to become a domestic race at Mercedes, with Ferrari and Red Bull acting as third wheels, as the starting grid in Austria demonstrated.
The experience of the training camp in Barcelona taught the young Antonelli that the World Championship rewards wisdom in the long run: second or third is better than outside, always keeping an eye on the best possible result based on the general classificationeven if it involves letting go of the teammate/rival, with whom the competitive tension within the team can be perceived on the radio, starting from the mysterious celebration: “Stay: calm” in Italian from Russel in qualifying, which smacked of a message to the young rival. Even if George Russel tried to deny it with a less than plausible explanation. Fifth and disappointed was Hamilton’s Ferrari, a faded copy of that of Spain.
The finale in Austria is thrilling: Antonelli-Verstappen duel on the last lap for second position. Three of them arrive in two seconds: Russel, Verstappen, Antonelli. Russel chooses the Fred Flintstone-style celebration, and Antonelli makes it clear that he has learned his lesson but that he really doesn’t want to stay calm.
Riccardo Patrese’s six GPs can wait. Antonelli, between the egg today and the chicken at the end of the year, chose the chicken, internalizing Jannik Sinner’s lesson: if I can I win, if I can’t I learn. With three more laps Kimi would have won, today he didn’t lose, he kept the point. Or rather, the points. Even with the bitterness of having entered the party two or three laps late.
