Sky Sports Formula 1 lead commentator David Croft has backed Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli to become a younger world champion than Max Verstappen.
Antonelli delivered an incredible performance at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix, driving from 19th on the grid to victory in front of his home crowd.
The 20-year-old became the first home driver to win at Monza in 60 years, extending his championship lead over his team-mate George Russell to 66 points ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
During an appearance on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Croft compared Antonelli's current trajectory to that of Verstappen, who made his F1 debut at 17, won his first race at 18 and his first championship at 24.
"12 months ago he was at Monza and was just coming out of a very difficult period where, from the podium in Canada, things had started to go wrong and he wasn't happy," Croft explained. "He was working really hard with Bono [Peter Bonnington] to try and put things right and then went on a really good run towards the end of the season.
"It's almost like he's growing up with less experience than Max. Max had that experience with Toro Rosso for a season and then a couple of races before he went up to the Red Bull team.
"He's doing things earlier than Max. He's going to be a younger world champion than Max was. He is a younger polesitter. He is a younger grand prix winner. He's getting everything done very, very early indeed and showing a lot of maturity with it.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
"I've seen and heard signs on the track this year where he's controlling his emotions. He's calming down. He's keeping a lid on things that might have got the better of him 12 months ago.
"That is why people are saying this man is a generational talent because it's one thing to have an ability, it's another to have that controlled ability and to start being very mature at an age where I think all three of us can agree we certainly wouldn't have been capable of doing anything near what Kimi Antonelli is doing."
Antonelli took the lead of the standings after back-to-back wins in the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix. He went on to secure four more victories before the summer break and his win in Italy was his seventh F1 win.
Sebastian Vettel became the youngest F1 champion in history, claiming his first title in 2010 at the age of 23 years and 134 days.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
- The Motorsport.com Team
Originally published by motorsport.com —
Read Original Article