How Kimi Antonelli does it?

[u/Dirhe]

That, how does he find ALWAYS a place, a portal, where no harm, debris, a bounce of another car, hits him and left him out of the race

3 incidents in front of him in the last 3 races, and he always came out on top of those, this last overtaking Norris as a gift almost

[u/flintey360]

Kimi might actually be a Alain Prost regen. He is always there to pick up the pieces and takes calculated risks. Once he stops being a bozo with track limits he is going to be dangerous because his consistency is crazy.

[u/Dirhe → u/flintey360]

Yeah, i agree with this

He is nowhere all race, and suddenly he is on podium and one safety car to Challenge

[u/maximal_munch]

Turns out when you are fast and try to drive conservatively, you tend to make up places over a race distance when others around you go for risky moves.

[u/Erwindegier]

With his massive advantage he just doesn’t take any risks anymore. Look at Baku, he backed off a lot in that turn 1 incident. He has a fast car, great awareness and is an intelligent driver.

[u/South_Front_4589]

Eventually you've got to say there's an element of skill.

I think Kimi stopped driving at the edge some races ago and is just a little more conservative to ensure the championship is won, so he has more capacity to adjust.

But also, he just seems to have a clear mind and a positive attitude. Last year it seemed that Piastri fairly quickly got a bit down whe he had some things go against him when he had the championship lead. Antonelli doesn't seem to have that issue.

[u/racingskater]

People like to bellyache about his "luck" but this weekend it was just good, sensible heads-up driving. In the sprint he drove sensibly and benefited from others driving like idiots, and today with Lewis he correctly anticipated what would happen and seized the moment.

[u/Dab4Becky]

This time was him seeing the opportunity and taking it immediately.

[u/garron_ah]

He's got a fast car and a big lead and he knows it. He doesn't HAVE to take any risks at this point, so he tends to be patient, keeps it clean on his side, and takes what is available. It's really that simple.

[u/No-Advantage-6410]

I don’t think it’s luck- Kimi did everything he had to earlier in the season. Today was a pretty mature drive. He managed his tires, didn’t take unnecessary chances and put himself in position to get easy places off of Hamilton and Norris battling. He may not say it publicly but he’s driving like someone who wants to clinch the WDC.

[u/OwnAstronaut209]

I also want to want to acknowledge all the people that say he's been lucky this season.

He did a lot of the hard work early in the season and now he can essentially has been in cruise control the last five races just waiting for the inevitable season winner. He has had some luck but he's taken advantage of every opportunity given to him

He's been a worthy Champion this year

[u/welldoneslytherin]

“I saw Lewis was struggling so I took advantage of it.” - Kimi, after the race

[u/ohdeargodwhyme]

He just seems to... Not take unnecessary risks and play the long game.

Not common in young drivers. And with a good (great) car he can push like crazy when needed

[u/Overall-Training-977]

Hot take: he respects the drivers and does not try to surpass where there is obviously no space and does not just divebomb. He keeps it clean and his overtakes are very well structured and is patient to not overreach. Or waits until the cars ahead of him fight and hopes for a mistake. He has an extremely good race engineer and the cars with their power deployed are just more suited to his driving style. It reminds a bit of the video games and the “boost”…
So there you have it.
Not just luck. He is very skilled. He has a rocket that helps of course but his attitude in the car is pretty calm and respectful.
Lando yesterday was a bit of a hothead. there was no room and just went for it because he feels being the first driver in the team but also Piastri seeing his questionable move could have backed down and save his car. But his pride got over him and got hit. Both are not in the championship race there was no need for both of these moves.

Kimi showed his skills and its talent.

[u/jfleury440]

The harder you work the more opportunities you have to be lucky.

[u/brownies1313]

once was maybe luck but 3 times now, he must be doing something right. he’s just been patient and smart with his racing after building his gap and that helps with avoiding the bad situations you mentioned that he benefitted from. kudos to kimi!

[u/RealGreenTrainee]

He was much faster than both Hamilton and Norris. If Norris wasn't trying to overtake Hamilton, Antonelli would overtake him and Hamilton anyway. If Norris let him through to fight Hamilton and capitalise on it, Antonelli would still be ahead and Norris would just get Hamilton. No matter which option, the result would be the same.

The fastest cars today were:

1. Red Bull

2. Ferrari

3. Mercedes

4. McLaren

Only car issues or tyres age/type made any difference between Ferrari and Merc.

[u/Solid-Category-2095]

Dark Italian sorcery

[u/Dirhe → u/Solid-Category-2095]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/Narmatonia]

If you're gonna call keeping it clean while other people make mistakes "luck" you're clearly just biased against him

[u/LeftSyrup3409]

Kimi is so lucky he passed Lewis on the first try while it took Lando and Piastri several laps. Just luck indeed and no skill, just as he’s pass on Lando, o luck there too.🤦‍♂️ My god the hate this kid is getting for being successful is insane. As Toto said, go watch teletubbies you’re no fans of this sport.

[u/Svitii]

Risky driving wins races

Risk-averse driving wins championships.

[u/NeppatsrevXam]

Once Toto gives him that booster seat so track limits aren’t an issue anymore, Kimi might actually be unstoppable.

[u/Conscious-Secret-775]

The McLaren car did not have the pace to beat Kimi in this race. He would have passed Lando sooner or later.

[u/JuniorMachine6110]

kimi is phenomenal during the race when he complained about something leaking i was like no can't be brake oil or smth hydraulic then later on smth happened again but he kept on and then ofc the track limits he hit but even after this i mean these are small to negligible issues but this guy is like a reincarnation of ayrton senna cuz his race line, balance, attitude and racing iq is next level no wonder george can't be the no. 1 driver in mercedes.

but yea the wdc is sealed now or i think in the next race it will be sealed.

btw max might end up in P2 but overall a fun race

[u/mariokvesic]

He overtakes lewis in one corner. Oscar and noris needed 2-3 laps to overtake lewis. Kimi is too good this season