Kimi Antonelli’s spectacular comeback at Monza, from 19th on the grid to victory, has strengthened comparisons with Max Verstappen as the benchmark of the current generation.
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At only 20 years old and in his second season in Formula 1, the Mercedes driver impresses especially with his race pace, a domain in which he clearly dominates George Russell.
But some aspects of his driving still separate him from the four-time world champion.
A considerable advantage over Russell in races
Starting from the back of the grid and still managing to win has become in recent years one of Max Verstappen’s trademarks. By winning the Italian Grand Prix after starting 19th, Kimi Antonelli inevitably fueled comparisons.
The red flag and the restart certainly played a role in the race’s outcome, but the ease with which the Italian climbed through the field mainly confirmed a trend observed since the start of the season: Antonelli is particularly formidable on long stints.
Out of the 13 Grands Prix held so far, excluding Belgium where a relevant comparison was impossible due to an early retirement, Antonelli showed better pace than George Russell in 10 of the 12 comparable races. Even more impressive, his average advantage would be about 0.380 seconds per lap.
A considerable gap against a driver of Russell’s caliber, bringing Antonelli closer to the profile of drivers like Verstappen or Fernando Alonso: drivers capable of finding a lot of performance over the duration of a Grand Prix, even when their weekend hasn’t been perfect until then.
The progress is all the more remarkable as Antonelli is only in his second season in Formula 1. Russell still regularly had the upper hand over his young teammate in 2025, but the balance of power has clearly shifted this year.
In qualifying, the gap is much smaller
Saturday remains, however, an area where Antonelli still has significant room for improvement. The head-to-head in qualifying is much more balanced: 7-6 in favor of Antonelli, with an average advantage of only 0.093 seconds. The contrast with the gaps observed in races is striking.
Antonelli is therefore not yet an absolute dominator over one lap. His profile is more reminiscent of a driver capable of gradually extracting the potential of his car during a race than some historical qualifying specialists like Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel.
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This season, the Italian notably took the advantage over Russell during some weekends in Monaco, Miami, and Monza, while the Briton stayed ahead on several other occasions. It is on Sundays that the difference becomes much clearer.
Not yet Verstappen’s mastery in duels
The comparison with Verstappen quickly finds its limits. The first is obviously experience. Verstappen has several seasons at the highest level, many wins, and several world titles. Antonelli still has to prove he can maintain his current level over an entire championship.
But the most interesting difference probably concerns close battles. Verstappen’s ability to attack, defend, and place his car in extremely tight spaces remains one of his main strengths. Antonelli still appears less precise in this area.
His duel with Russell at Monza illustrated this. In the final laps, the Italian went off track after running over the dirty part, while the two Mercedes were fighting for the win. Earlier in the season, Charles Leclerc had also criticized some of his on-track maneuvers.
Antonelli is nevertheless progressing quickly in this area, and his pure race pace has already become one of his main weapons.
A genuine title contender
It is this combination that makes his development particularly interesting. Antonelli already has impressive speed on long stints while continuing to develop his mastery of duels.
His victory at Monza, achieved after a comeback from 19th position, is therefore not an isolated event. It fits into a trend observed throughout the 2026 season. That does not mean, however, that Antonelli is already at Verstappen’s level in all areas. He still has to confirm his consistency over a full season and perfect his attacks as well as his defenses under pressure.
But at only 19 years old, Antonelli already shows some characteristics that have made Verstappen strong: an ability to turn his race pace into results and to make a difference on Sundays. If he manages to add to that the duel mastery acquired by Verstappen over the years, Mercedes could have a driver capable of becoming one of Formula 1’s main forces for years to come.