Kimi Antonelli edges closer to championship lead despite father’s stern warning
Kimi Antonelli has revealed his father threatened to “stretch my neck like a chicken” despite celebrating another Formula One victory, with the championship leader admitting he was given a stern dressing down after the Belgian Grand Prix, reports BritPanorama.
The 19-year-old strengthened his grip on the drivers’ title by winning at Spa-Francorchamps, extending his advantage at the top of the standings to 45 points ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
It was another landmark moment in Antonelli’s remarkable campaign as the Mercedes driver converted pole position into victory after overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc following a Virtual Safety Car period. Yet the Italian was far from satisfied with every aspect of his performance.
Antonelli twice fell foul of track limits during the race, leaving himself one infringement away from a time penalty, and it was that lapse in concentration that caught the attention of his father, Marco, immediately after the chequered flag. Marco Antonelli, a former racing driver himself, congratulated his son on another Formula One triumph before quickly reminding him there was still room for improvement.
“He said, ‘Congrats, but…’ – always a ‘but’,” Antonelli recalled. “He told me, ‘If I see you doing another track limits for nothing, I’m going to stretch your neck like a chicken.’ So yeah, those were his words. It’s something I need to work on.”
The Mercedes star admitted he was equally frustrated with himself after unnecessarily pushing beyond the circuit boundaries, describing the mistakes as avoidable. “I guess you guys know I like to use the track sometimes a bit too much,” Antonelli said. “It’s something that I’m trying to work on.”
“I look back at Spa and the two track limits, it was very stupid. I was like, ‘What the heck am I doing?'” he added. Antonelli has already picked up track-limit penalties earlier this season and accepts it is becoming a weakness rivals could exploit if left unchecked.
“It’s something that I need to work on because sometimes in a race I might need to use them,” he explained. “But if I use them when I don’t need to, then I might find myself in trouble. For sure it’s something I am working on.”
Despite those concerns, Antonelli continues to enjoy a sensational campaign in only his second full Formula One season. Victory in Belgium moved him further clear in the championship, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton both losing further ground in the title race.
The teenager will now head to Budapest hoping to take another significant step towards a shock world championship before Formula One pauses for its summer break. The Hungarian Grand Prix is the final race before the calendar pauses for a month, with racing resuming in the Netherlands at the end of August.
As Antonelli prepares for this weekend’s race, it serves as a reminder of the fine line between triumph and tension, where even the brightest stars face the weight of high expectations.
