Italian Kimi Antonelli was so superior to any other driver at the Monaco Grand Prix that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was even telling him to slow down.
Antonelli, 19, produced a masterclass of pace and precision to become the youngest-ever Monaco winner, remaining unfazed after two safety cars and a red flag caused late chaos.
“It’s unbelievable what he’s able to deliver. Having control, he’s at times 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else,” Wolff said of the new prince of Monaco.
"Then restarts, builds the gap, it's really unbelievable. It was from [Race Engineer] Bono [Peter Bonnington] at first, then from me! I said to him you have to tell him he has half a minute of an advantage. Then he kept putting in those times and we thought 'maybe it's his rhythm'."
Antonelli’s fifth successive win looked a formality for much of the race as he finished 6.271 seconds ahead of seven-time world champion and three-time Monaco winner Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari.
"I try to embrace the pressure as much as possible, because I don't want to let the pressure destroy me like â it did last year in the European season," said Antonelli, who finished last in Monaco 12 months ago.
"For sure, it was a good test today because with the red â flag, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit annoyed because getting the mindset back into redoing a full start was not easy. But it was a good test on that side and I'm happy I didn't fail."
Former Mercedes driver Hamilton had been the youngest Monaco winner after his victory, aged 23, in 2008 but the 41-year-old has now been eclipsed by Antonelli.
"I have to start by congratulating Kimi and the Mercedes team," he said. "My old family, they've done it again. "They've created an amazing car and Kimi's doing an incredible job just delivering weekend in, weekend out."
REUTERS
