1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Kimi Antonelli is currently enjoying the "luck of champions".
Antonelli became the youngest driver to lead the championship after his back-to-back wins at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix. The 19-year-old driver has continued to pick up wins in every grand prix since, in Miami, Canada and Monaco.
Heading into the season, Antonelli's team-mate George Russell was a clear favourite. But as the Briton faced his fair share of issues outside of his control, such as car issues during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, a hampered strategy because of a safety car in Japan and further reliability problems in Canada, which forced him to retire from the lead, Antonelli has gone from strength to strength.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Villeneuve likened Antonelli's "luck of champions" to that of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
“Kimi has the luck of champions. If you remember the [Michael] Schumacher days, he would go off at every race but somehow in the only area where it was OK to go off and it would be OK," the Canadian said.
"That's happened to Kimi a lot this year. In Miami, he cut the first chicane, but Verstappen spun and he kept his spot. He's got that momentum going and when you have that belief, you keep on winning."
Jacques Villeneuve, former racing driver, walks in the paddock.
Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images
After his win in Monaco, Antonelli leads the drivers' championship by 66 points over seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in second, and 68 points over Russell in third.
Qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix is underway. Russell has so far looked more comfortable on track while the Ferrari pair also seem strong.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix will take place on Sunday 14 June at 3pm local time (2pm UK time).
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Originally published by motorsport.com —
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