Kimi Antonelli left Jenson Button speechless, with the 2009 world champion admitting he had no idea how the Italian was able to pull away from Lewis Hamilton so quickly in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old extended his championship advantage to 66 points after becoming the youngest winner at the Circuit de Monaco, securing a fifth consecutive victory.
Antonelli delivered a flawless display from start to finish and expertly managed both a safety car restart and a full race restart following a red flag for a track inspection at the final corner.
Hamilton had no choice but to settle for second behind the Mercedes driver, while former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins was also left highly impressed by Antonelli's performance.
"Mercedes really impressed me at several points in the race," Collins told Sky F1.
"Kimi Antonelli's pace and the gap he was able to open up to the Ferrari made you think, 'Oh, maybe they're managing a bit and Ferrari will come back,' but they just didn't have an answer at several stages of the race.
"How good is it to see this happy, regenerated Lewis Hamilton putting it together in Monaco?"
Antonelli's lap times were in a different league to the rest of the field, with the Italian setting fastest lap after fastest lap.
It was a level of pace that left Button stunned and wondering just how the youngster was able to achieve it.
"For me, I don't know how Kimi is able to get off the line and drive flat out from the word go," added Button. "He pulled almost three seconds in a single lap at the start of the race.
"Lewis was probably taken aback a little bit, but from there on he drove really well, and I'm sure he's reasonably happy with P2 and standing on that podium."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
Read Original Article