Strongest duo on the grid? Antonelli says him and Russell make 'Great duo'
Making his grand debut in only 18 days, filling in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli weighs in on the launch of the German's team new 2025 Formula 1 car, the W16., whose unveiling took place only two days before the pre-season testing is set to span across 26 to 28 February, starts.
On the topic of making his debut, Antonelli shared "I'm excited to make my debut in F1 this year," he continued, "It is a great opportunity, and I am very thankful to everyone at Mercedes for the faith and trust they've placed in me."
'We will make a great duo'
Antonelli, like most drivers, spent their winter break working to get themselves ready for the new season. "I've been working hard over the winter to be as ready as I can possibly be, and now, I can't wait to get started."
"My focus is on continuing to learn, being consistent, and doing the best job I can for the team." With the Italian having replaced Hamilton at Mercedes, he now completes the lineup with George Russell. "I'm looking forward to working with George. We're already gelling well, and it's great to have the support of someone who has come through the junior programme, too." Both Russell and Antonelli have been developed by the Mercedes Junior driver programme but unlike Russell, who spent some time at Williams Racing, Antonelli has been brought straight into Mercedes.
"He is an incredibly strong driver and together I think we will make a great duo," concluded the Italian.
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I think Norris and Piastri will be the strongest pairing in F1 this season. I think Sainz will be the quickest in getting used to his new car.
A top of strongest drivers pairs is : 1.Ferrari, 2.Mclaren, 3.RBR..Mercedess is only on 4th..
"Making his grand debut in only 18 days, filling in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes" Not quite GP blog. He replaced Lewis because Lewis moved on. For me the strongest pair is Lewis and Charles Then Norris and Oscar. The constructors most probably gone be between Ferrari and McLaren.
Agreed. Lewis/Charles followed by Lando/Oscar. 3rd is a toss up between RB and Merc, or actually Lawson V Kimi!
If you add the total number of championships that each teams drivers have obtained over their entire career, then Red Bull actualy has the strongest driver line up. Between Max and Lawson, they have a total of 37 championships, with Max having 28 on his own. At Mercedes, George and Kimi, have a total of 34 championship, while at Ferrari, Charles and Hamilton has a total of 32. Everyone thinks that the McLaren duo of Lando and Piastri are very highly rated, but between them, they have only won 13 championships. Interesting to note that Piastri has only got 3 championships, all during his single seater racng days, with not a single karting championship won.
@Mech in my opinion adding up all junior and karting championships to determine the strongest F1 lineup is a flawed metric. For me a single F1 championship is far more valuable than any number of karting or junior formula titles. Let's say we use you logic , then a driver who won 50 karting championships other none F1 series but never competed in F1 could be considered superior to Lewis or Max, which makes no sense. What makes sense is looking at points scored in F1 to measure the strongest line-up in my opinion. Although that doesn't translate to success as the machinery will play a factor. Rookies are all equal in my eyes ? untill they have scored their first points .
There is a very close correlation on how well a driver does when he gets to F1, compared to how they have been doing all through their racing career since young. A driver that has been very good all the while, do not suddendly become terrible when they come to F1, while a medeocre driver throughout their junior career do not suddently become a WDC contender when they get to F1. Based on the above, I will predict that Hadjar will be a total flop in F1, while Kimi will be a multiple WDC in the next few years in his F1 career.
@Mech using your logic then a measure between the rookies would make more sense vs comparing actual F1 points to achievements outside F1 to determine team strength. By you own logic has KIMI won more championships outside F1 than the other drivers including Hadjar? Has he earned more or less points than them ?. As we trying to determine team strength. You're making a prediction based on the above fair enough. I predict Kimi is gonna crash alot in F1 .
Mech is right and you are all over the place!...And to say Kimi is gonna crash alot in F1 .....You just crashed!
red bull is far from the strongest line up ? unless only max counts
You need to compare Apples with apples. F1 is a totally different ballgame. There are so many examples of a sports person that only started playing a sport in college and then became a house hold name and a legend of the sport. Hercules Gibbs for example was earmarked as the next big name in springbok rugby as a flyhalf but unfortunately sufferd a career ending injury very early on. Now he is a hero to a lot of people in cricket. His second choice sport.
I remember watching the 438 game in JHB. Gibbs was something special. But it is actually Herschelle, although he did bat like Hercules!
Lol autocorrect. I'm in Capetown and still remember we had loadshedding when Australia bat. I parked my car in front of my (at that time) girlfriends now wife's work and listened how our bowlers got hammered all over the park. Got home and started my fire. After about a hour I put the TV on and Gibbs and Graham were striking the ball like I have never seen before. Great day for cricket. Still today one of the best ODIs. My wife bought me the DVD of the game.
Phenomenal game. I was lucky enough to be there. Funny enough, we nearly left after Australia posted 434. My mate said lets leave, as it was building to be a demoralizing defeat, and you know how much we hate losing to the Aussies. Luckily we stayed, or I don't think I would ever have forgiven my mate.
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