Kimi Antonelli stunned by unique Max Verstappen advantages

Kimi Antonelli has hailed the astonishing variety of qualities in Max Verstappen that he has encountered this season in battling the four-time F1 champion.

In particular, Mercedes driver Antonelli has praised Verstappen's racecraft in his Red Bull, and ability to extract lap time when it counts, singling out his "incredible vision" for how to position his car in traffic.

Championship leader Antonelli, speaking ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, pointed to an incident from the recent Spanish GP in Madrid as an example of Verstappen's sharp race reading.

On the opening lap, Antonelli tried to pass Lando Norris on the outside of the second chicane before backing out and conceding the position. It was that decision, he said, that opened the door for Verstappen.

"Max has really incredible vision during a race, on how to position the car," Antonelli said to the media, including RacingNews365.

"For example, in Madrid, in the second chicane, when I tried to go on the outside of Lando, and then I bailed out and let him by, my mistake there was to let him by straight away because I knew Max was going on the outside in that corner. He saw the opportunity and went for it.

"That's always fascinating, because in a very short [amount of] time he can read a situation well, and he can always, in this scenario, find a gap to get a position."

[Article continues below]

Verstappen 'unknown' a great asset

Antonelli also referenced Verstappen's Monaco weekend as proof of his ability to turn a poor session into a strong result, even though the Dutchman's race ended prematurely with an engine failure on the grid.

"Also, seeing him so close on the track, it's how well he can flip situations even when they're not looking good," Antonelli said.

"I remember Monaco this year in FP3; they [Red Bull] looked quite far back, and then in qualifying, he almost put it on pole.

"With Max, what's great is that it's also the unknown at times, especially in free practice; you don't really know his full potential. But when it matters, he always finds something more, which is really fascinating to see."