Only one winner emerges from Zandvoort: the very young Italian from Mercedes who dreams of repeating Alberto Ascari’s feat 73 years later
From Zandvoort to Monza, two weeks in which Kimi Antonelli will experience great emotions even if the very young champion from Bologna has already entered the legend of Formula 1 and is safely at the top of the world single-seater constructors’ ranking. An Italian leading the World Championship on the iconic Brianza circuit hasn’t been seen since Alberto Ascarito explain to younger people what we are talking about just remember the date: 1953. It happened in the prehistory of motoring when racing was an adventure and the risks were very high. Ascari won two consecutive world championships, in 1952 and 1953, more than seventy years ago. THE world of motors has gone through epochal transformations and now that electronics reigns it has given us this talent from Bologna who is not even twenty years old and always smiles, works with impressive professionalism and learns from mistakes and does not repeat them. Kimi is pure talent, with the unscrupulousness of twenty years and an experience that seems ten years old but is actually very short. They say that anyone who reaches certain levels so early is predestined, the boy from Bologna with the curls and smile of a child is already a champion, race after race he proves it on the track.
Growth
Of course Kimi has one of the best cars of the moment, perhaps the best. But driving the Mercedes is not enough to tell of his successes and progress. It would be enough to compare his performance with that of his teammate George Russellpunctually behind the Italian. But having reached more than half the season, another consideration must be made on the only point in which Antonelli seemed not to be up to the others: the start. A few mistakes at the start certainly cost him, but then as the grand prix went by Antonelli no longer made any mistakes, confessing that he had worked a lot in the simulator on his only weak side. Zandvoort further strengthened his leadership, second place is a great result for the Italian because the winner Norris is very far from him and Kimi has gained points over his closest rivals. The 58 point lead over Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell is a haul that Antonelli can even increase in Monza, where the very long straights enhance the power of the Mercedes engine. But it is now clear that the German team led by Toto Wolf he took off his mask and is aiming for the Italian driver for the world title. That word that everyone was afraid to associate with Kimi at the beginning of the season has now become routine thanks to the results obtained on the track. Kimi is not one to lift his foot, he has learned to manage situations but let’s not expect him to end the season in control. He always wants to win, let alone in Monza where the motoring population will be divided between the red of the Ferrari which is like the Italian national team and the black of the boy with curls. A champion with a baby face who can give us a world title 73 years after the great Alberto Ascarri
