Kimi Antonelli warned “pressure will ramp up” in F1 title fight

Setembro 24, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick has warned current Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli that the title pressure will eventually take its toll.

Antonelli won his eighth grand prix of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix and extended his lead in the standings to 81 points over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who sits second.

As the 20-year-old driver continues to dominate on track, there have been concerns that the weight of fighting for his first championship title would begin to affect him, but that is yet to happen.

“I think there’s always pressure,” Chadwick said during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast in Azerbaijan.

“At the start of the year when you’re talking about being the championship favourite – that weight was being on George’s shoulders more – to then throughout the year ‘can you hold it?’

“I think that is something Kimi has dealt with very well this year. He doesn’t seem to be so fazed about the pressure. I think that has helped him as he is driving free still. He is able to be confident and carry the momentum that he has got from that.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images

“But it does get at you. At some point it’s going to come down to the finish point and if he continues the way he is, of course, he’s going to walk away with it – but there are still many races to go. If it gets right down to the wire, that’s where pressure will ramp up.”

1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve, who joined Chadwick on the broadcast, claimed Antonelli is enjoying the “luck of a champion”.

“It’s a huge lead on his team-mate,” the Canadian said. “And right now he has what we call all the ‘luck of a champion’, which is everything goes well.

“Even when he makes a mistake, somehow it turns out to be good. He keeps racking up the points, so it’s very difficult for him to lose enough points to lose the championship lead right now.”