First podium ‘much better than I imagined’ - Antonelli

Mercedes enjoyed a strong weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, with George Russell taking pole position and keeping Max Verstappen at bay to win, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli moving up from fourth on the grid to finish third. While he’s had a pole position in a Sprint event before, it’s the first time Antonelli has been on the podium in his rookie season and he says it makes him hungry for more.

“It was much better than what I imagined,” Antonelli said. “Hearing the crowd while walking onto the podium, I had massive goosebumps. That is definitely a moment I will remember for a very long time.

“It gives you a boost – results like this and this feeling, you can't buy this feeling. It's an amazing feeling and you just want more. I think the goal now is to try to keep the same momentum and try to achieve more podiums, and hopefully maybe the first win – you never know.”

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Prior to that special moment, Antonelli had to deal with plenty of pressure as he had the two McLarens closing in during the final stages of Sunday’s race, and admits he’d tried to stay too close to Verstappen and left himself vulnerable late.

“I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest. I was even looking at the screen counting the laps because it was very stressful," he said. "In the last stint, I pushed a bit too hard behind Max and eventually degraded the front left. The last few laps were a struggle, especially seeing Oscar [Piastri] getting closer and closer in the DRS range. At one point, he even tried to attempt the overtake in Turn 1. It took a lot of effort.”

Antonelli was praised by Russell after the race and the Italian returned the favor, saying his teammate is helping him develop and improve quickly.

“I'm still aware there's a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to qualifying, trying to be quicker at the beginning of the session. But we're on a good path," he said. "The team is doing a great job. Also, with George, he's helping me to push myself even further. There's a really good dynamic in the team. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the next few races.”